Nick Cannon and his loved ones celebrated the life of his and Alyssa Scott’s late son, Zen, five years after his death.
“What a beautiful celebration of life for our Angel Zen Scott Cannon,” the Wild ‘n Out creator, 45, wrote alongside photos from the event via Instagram on Thursday, June 25.
Adding a bible verse, Cannon wrote, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts. — 2 Corinthians 4:6.”
He concluded, “Zen’s Light will forever shine in our hearts. We love you my son ❤️🕊️🙏🏾.”
Cannon and his guests, including Scott, 32, and their 3-year-old daughter, Halo, wore white as they gathered on a beach for the celebration. In one photo, the group posed alongside a black-and-white photo of Zen, who died at 5 months old in December 2021. Another snap showed Cannon and Scott cutting into a cake with Zen’s photo on the top, along with a gold “5” candle.
Days before the celebration of life, Cannon honored Zen on what would have been his 5th birthday.
“6/23 will forever be a day of light!” he captioned an Instagram post. “Turning our pain to purpose! We celebrate the life of our Young King Zen Scott Cannon! We honor our beautiful son and the precious moments we got to share in the physical and the constant energy we share in the Spirit daily.”
Cannon and Scott welcomed Zen in June 2021. Two months later, the comedian revealed that their baby boy had been diagnosed with a high-grade glioma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
“The conversations quickly turned to, ‘How can we give him the best life for the time that he does have?’ It could be weeks, it could be months, it could be years,” Cannon recalled of the illness to People after Zen’s death.
Scott and Cannon ultimately decided to stop pursuing invasive treatments in favor of keeping their son “as happy as he could possibly be” in the weeks before he died.
“We were having quality-of-life conversations,” Cannon continued. “We could have had that existence where he would’ve had to live in the hospital, hooked up to machines, for the rest of the time. From someone who’s had to deal with chemotherapy before, I know that pain. To see that happen to a 2-month-old, I didn’t want that. I didn’t want him to suffer.”
In June 2022, Cannon and Scott founded the Zen’s Light Foundation, an organization promoting “global excellence in hope, grief care and pediatric healthcare for families and children in need,” the Masked Singer host shared at the time.
Cannon and Scott went on to welcome Halo in December 2022. The podcaster is also a dad to twins Moroccan and Monroe, 15, with ex Mariah Carey; Golden Sagon, 9, Powerful Queen, 5, and Rise Messiah, 3, with Brittany Bell; twins Zion and Zillion, 4, and Beautiful Zeppelin, 3, with Abby De La Rosa; Legendary Love, 3, with Bre Tiesi; and Onyx, 3, with LaNisha Nicole.
