According to Nick Cannon, “There’s like a 50/50 chance of a marriage working. If it didn’t work out for you the first time, and you still survived it, you probably shouldn’t do it again”.
In a recent sit-down (in his car) with DUJOUR he discusses how he feels about marriage after Mariah:
“Would you mind if we did the interview in the car instead?” asks a chiseled, shirtless Nick Cannon, tossing aside his suit jacket and slipping into a faded vintage tee. He’s just finished a photo shoot at a studio in Brooklyn, and since we’re both going back to Manhattan, “Wouldn’t it just make more sense?” he suggests politely, though his preference is clear. When you’re a guy with more jobs than Ryan Seacrest—which is to say, there are a seemingly infinite number—efficiency is the name of the game. So we crawl into the second row of his chauffeured black Cadillac Escalade and head toward the city.
Cannon is just 35, but today his energy would tell you otherwise. He looks exhausted. He only sleeps two hours a night, he says. And the other 22 hours? They’re spent juggling his roles as a father (to four-year-old twins), host (America’s Got Talent, for eight seasons), actor, stand-up comedian, entrepreneur (he founded NCredible Entertainment, a production and artist management agency) and businessman (he was named Chairman of Nickelodeon’s TeenNick in 2009). To call him one of the hardest working guys in Hollywood would be an understatement.
Career-wise, the past year has been a fruitful one for Cannon. His performance as a Chicago gang leader in the satirical film Chi-Raq not only showcased his impressive dramatic chops, it also gave him the opportunity to work alongside Spike Lee (the movie’s director) and Samuel L. Jackson (who co-starred)—and it’s been met with strong critical acclaim. But much of his recent success has been overshadowed by his high-profile breakup: in December 2014, Cannon filed for divorce from Mariah Carey, to whom he was married for six years and has two children. Since then, he’s quickly realized that the sensationalized “divorce drama” storyline is inevitable, no matter how many times the two insist there were no hard feelings surrounding their split.
He’s also come to another revelation: that maybe he was never meant to be a husband in the first place. “I feel like marriage isn’t for everyone,” says Cannon, adjusting the brim of his fedora. “A friend of mine put it the funniest way. He said, ‘If you heard that there was a 50/50 chance of living or dying when you jump out of a plane, you probably wouldn’t go skydiving.”
He continues, “There’s like a 50/50 chance of a marriage working. If it didn’t work out for you the first time, and you still survived it, you probably shouldn’t do it again.” But does he think he ever will? Cannon hesitates, as if debating whether to answer the question. “I highly doubt it.”
