Mariah Carey’s Twins Shine in Christmas Pic as Cannon Elsewhere

The Moment

Mariah Carey did what Mariah Carey does best at Christmas: she put herself, a sparkly dress, and a perfect tree in the frame. But this year, the real headline wasn’t her vocals (for once) – it was how tall her twins look, and who wasn’t in the picture.

In a Christmas post shared on Instagram Friday, the 56-year-old holiday queen posed between her 14-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan, whom she shares with ex-husband Nick Cannon. The kids are in matching red “All I Want for Christmas Is You” sweatshirts with their mom’s face on the front, like walking merch tables – very on brand for the woman who turned December into a personality trait.

Mariah, in a red glittering long-sleeved dress with black tights and heels, is literally dwarfed by the teens. The three of them beam in front of a glowing tree, with Monroe and Moroccan giving full cool-teen energy while still hyping up Mom.

Noticeably missing from the photos: Nick Cannon. Carey’s recent Christmas Eve shots, including this year’s visit from Santa, also show just Mariah and the twins. Meanwhile, over on his own Instagram, Cannon has been doing multiple holiday photoshoots with some of his other children’s moms, including Abby De La Rosa and Bre Tiesi, plus a separate festive moment with daughter Monroe earlier in the week.

This all lands a few weeks after Monroe raised eyebrows with an Instagram Story where she wrote, “Clearing something up guys, I only have ONE brother,” tagging her twin, Moroccan. She did add that she has “other half-siblings” from her dad who are “many years younger” than her – but the line stuck, especially for a father of 12.

So now we’ve got: glowing Mariah-and-the-twins pics, Nick in other holiday shoots, and a teenage daughter who’s already gone on the record about how she categorizes her siblings. You don’t have to squint hard to see why the internet is reading into the Christmas optics.

The Take

I’m going to say the quiet part out loud: this looks less like a family feud and more like a modern, very-public, very-complicated blended family just… being one.

Mariah’s Christmas photos scream stability. It’s intimate, it’s just mom and the twins, and it’s clearly curated. She has built an entire empire around being the Patron Saint of December, and these images fit right in. There’s no sense she needs anyone else in the shot to validate her version of family.

Nick, on the other hand, seems to be on a perpetual photo tour of his own family tree. With 12 children across multiple households, the reality is that one man cannot be everywhere at once – especially on major holidays. To me, the separate photos don’t automatically equal drama; they look like logistics.

As for Monroe’s “I only have one brother” comment? That reads extremely 14 years old. A teenager drawing emotional boundaries in a giant, complicated family isn’t shocking; it’s honestly developmentally normal. The difference is that most teens don’t have their offhand Stories dissected by millions of strangers.

Think of this whole situation like trying to schedule Christmas for a dad who’s basically Santa, except instead of chimneys he has group chats with at least five different moms. No one household is getting the full 24/7 presence, and the photos you choose to post become your version of “who’s family” in the moment – even if the reality is a lot messier and less dramatic behind the scenes.

What I actually find interesting is how clearly Carey is holding the line on her own narrative. Her Christmas content is tight: just the twins, just her, no commentary on their 10 half-siblings, no digs at Cannon. The shade, if any, is coming from teen fingers on a teen phone, not from Mariah’s carefully managed accounts.

So while the internet may want this to be a full-on holiday soap opera, what we’re really seeing is three people – one famous ex-couple and their very online teenage daughter – trying to claim small, separate pockets of normal in a life that is anything but.

Receipts

Mariah Carey’s twins, 14, look all grown up in Christmas photo without dad Nick Cannon https://t.co/c9UXLQsmgq pic.twitter.com/IQMwoPcwms

— Page Six (@PageSix) December 27, 2025

Confirmed:

• Mariah Carey posted Christmas photos with Monroe and Moroccan in matching “All I Want for Christmas Is You” sweatshirts, wearing a red glitter dress, on Instagram on a Friday in late December 2025, with no Nick Cannon present.
• Earlier Christmas Eve photos on her account also show Mariah with the twins and Santa, again without Cannon.
• Nick Cannon shared his own holiday photoshoots on Instagram with several of his other children and their moms, including Abby De La Rosa and Bre Tiesi, and a separate moment with Monroe earlier in the week.
• Cannon has 12 children, including twins Monroe and Moroccan with Carey, multiple children with Brittany Bell and Abby De La Rosa, and children with Lanisha Cole, Bre Tiesi, and Alyssa Scott. His son Zen with Scott died in December 2021 from a brain tumor.
• In a November 2025 Instagram Story, Monroe wrote, “I only have ONE brother,” tagging Moroccan, and referred to her other “half-siblings” from her dad as being “many years younger.”

Unverified / Interpretation:

• Any claim that Cannon “skipped” Christmas with the twins or that the parents are in new conflict is speculation; the posts only show where they chose to be photographed.
• The idea that Monroe was “shading” her half-siblings is an interpretation by fans and commentators; Monroe herself has not publicly expanded on the comment.

Sources: Public Instagram posts from Mariah Carey, late December 2025; public Instagram posts from Nick Cannon, late December 2025; Monroe Cannon Instagram Story, November 2025.

Backstory (For Casual Readers)

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon married in 2008 and welcomed twins Monroe and Moroccan in 2011. The pair separated in 2014 and finalized their divorce in 2016, but have long presented a united front around co-parenting the twins. In the years since, Cannon has become known for having a large, quickly expanding family with multiple partners. Mariah, by contrast, has kept her public “family brand” centered on her twins, occasionally bringing Monroe onstage to perform, especially at Christmas shows. The two worlds – Mariah’s tightly curated diva bubble and Nick’s sprawling dad-of-12 reality – now intersect most visibly through their teenagers’ social media.

What’s Next

Short-term, expect more cozy holiday content from Mariah and the twins and, most likely, more photos from Nick’s many family gatherings as New Year’s rolls through. The bigger question is how Monroe and Moroccan will continue to define themselves as they move deeper into their teen years – especially as their dad’s expanding family keeps making headlines.

We may see Monroe clarify or walk back her “one brother” comment, or we may see both parents simply let it fade into the feed. Cannon has spoken in the past about balancing time with all of his children; this kind of public scrutiny may nudge him to address that juggle again. And on Mariah’s side, don’t be surprised if she doubles down on what she’s always done: keep the focus on her music, her holidays, and her twins as the center of her personal universe.

In the end, this Christmas snapshot is just that – a moment. But in a world where every family photo becomes a statement piece, how Mariah, Nick, and especially Monroe choose to post (or not post) in 2026 may tell us more about how this very modern, very public family is really evolving.

What do you see in these holiday posts – real family tension, or just the messy logistics of a giant blended clan playing out online?