In 1986, a five-year-old in a low-income San Diego neighborhood walked into a storefront studio and heard yelling, and chopping, and bricks breaking. The man running it was James Wilson — a Taekwondo and Hapkido grandmaster who was also an assistant U.S. attorney, a minister, and had done work as a judge. He was stern to the point of intimidating, and Nick Cannon, a hyperactive kid who joked constantly, mostly wanted to quit. His father made him go.

Wilson had been his father's instructor too. He became something larger than that in the neighborhood — people brought him their legal trouble, he preached at the church, and in a community where you didn't see doctors or lawyers, he was the one who did it all. He also put a word on the wall that Cannon didn't understand until someone explained it: integrity, doing the right thing when nobody's watching. He passes it to his own twelve children now.

In this conversation with David Begnaud, Cannon talks about being diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder — and why he sought out the testing after being called one so many times — along with ADHD, insomnia, and the lupus nephritis he's lived with since 2012. He explains why he refuses to slow down, though every doctor tells him to, and why he feels worse lying still than working. He talks about being performative by nature, something therapy named for him, and about the only place he can turn it off. And about the distinction he's arrived at: his children are his lineage. His legacy is something else entirely.

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Recorded January 28, 2026

Chapters ☀️

ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
The Person Who Believed In Me is hosted by David Begnaud, founder and CEO of Do Good Crew and often called "America's storyteller." In each episode, David sits down with world-class guests to ask one simple question: Who believed in you before the world did? Big names. Honest stories. Relatable takeaways. Different paths — same question.

David is also a CBS News contributor and host of the weekly segment Beg Knows America, which airs every Monday morning.

Host: David Begnaud

Guest: Nick Cannon

Executive Producer: Olivier Delfosse

Booker: Sully Bloch

Director of Photography: Foster Parks

Live Production Technician: Joseph Gabay & Will Whitley (Statik Creative)

Associate Producer: Jonah Johnson

Director of Social: Mariah Maull

Theme Music: Slipstream

Post-Production: Longwave Digital

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/believedpodcast

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