Brian McKnight Explains ‘Mutual’ Beef With His Kids, Daughter’s Lawsuit, And Why He’s Not Sorry For His Infant Son’s Name

The backlash McKnight faced in the last two weeks primarily centered on the singer’s overt expression of love for his wife, their second biological son together, and his stepdaughter Julia.

In a past interview, he stated that none of the beloved music he created before falling for Leilani had any meaning. He credited Julia for making him “a girl dad,” despite having an adult, biological daughter named Briana. McKnight even named his youngest child Brian McKnight Jr.–despite having an adult son already carrying that name.

Brian has four living biological children–his youngest with Leilani and three others, Brian Jr., Niko, and Briana, from two previous relationships. Leilani and Brian’s first son, Kekoa Matteo, passed away last year.

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McKnight spoke his statements with conviction in the clips released on Friday–elevating his tone when getting into the nitty gritty of his non-apology.

As for what he posts? Only the people he has active relationships with can partake in his limelight.

“There is a very simple reason why I post about some of my children on social media and not others,” Brian said. “The children that I do not currently have relationships with, I don’t post about them. Instead,  I post the children in which I do have relationships with, with whom I am proud of.”

He later flat-out refused to apologize for his approach to fatherhood and claimed his estrangement from his biological kids was “mutual.”

“I never abandoned anyone. Out estrangement was mutual, but those posts made any roads towards reconciliation and acknowledging them a dead issue and I changed my will the next day.”

The “posts” McKnight references came from son Brian Jr. and daughter Briana in 2019. At the time, the siblings released lengthy posts on Instagram with similar accusations of abandonment by their father.

Brian Mcknight Jr. wrote, in part:

“I can’t imagine abandoning my children, man. It’s hard not to imagine the psyche of a man who can truly just turn his back on his actual sons, on his actual blood and creations. It’s mind-boggling to me. I don’t think there is any situation that merits the way my father has chosen to treat my brother, my sisters and his grandchildren, one of which being his firtsborn’s, first born son who also bears our name. It’s insane to me. To have absolutely no empathy for the type of life he introduced us to, only to become to resent us for that life catching up to us.”

Meanwhile, Briana’s post highlighted her inability to relate to being a “girl dad” and the blame she felt for not having a relationship with McKnight.

Briana wrote, in part:

“I grew up thinking that he doesn’t want to come to visit me because he doesn’t love me. Constantly put behind other kids that he would call his own while I’m cast into a land far far away in the back of his mind. It sucks knowing that someone else, who’s not even blood-related to you comes before you in every single way. It sucks knowing that my phone calls have to go through a stranger I barely know, that my text messages are read without a response, and that my stepmother tells me that they “wish the best for me”. It kills me to know that it’s so hard for me and my siblings to get a word in.”

It’s unclear if McKnight took all three of his biological kids, Brian Jr., Niko, and Briana, out of his will or just the two responsible for the posts. However, the singer seems to insinuate that his estranged children are simultaneously trying to profit from and damage his reputation.

“I’ve spent the last 30-plus years building a recognized, respectable name and ironically, there are still people out there who are trying to smear my name while still carrying it, hoping to use it for their own benefit,” Brian said.

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In February of this year, McKnight and Briana reportedly mutually agreed to dismiss a defamation lawsuit she filed. Per Radar Online, the court documents say Briana claimed her father maliciously defamed her by saying she engaged in a sexual relationship with a male relative when she was a minor–a claim Briana denies.

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In his Thursday post, the signer shared screenshots of what appears to be the court documents from their settlement. But, he also explained that they agreed to drop the suit after he made her a financial compensation of over $300,000.

“…She did not ask for an apology or even ask that I remove the alleged false statement from the internet. All she asked for and all she wanted was money. The case was dismissed before there was any decision on whether my statement about her was defamatory. We settled the case earlier this year, and I agreed to pay Briana some money, but here’s the interesting part. She sued me for defamation and breach of a million-dollar life insurance policy and I agreed to pay her $318,000 with no admission of any wrong-doing whatsoever.”

McKnight says Briana didn’t even require him to retract his statement.

The resurfaced critiques put fresh eyes on Brian’s youngest child–given that he shares his name with his eldest brother. In his recorded statement, the R&B singer explained why he is unapologetic about repeating the name.

“I make absolutely no apologies for naming my son Brian. I want him and the world to know that he is the one who is my true legacy. So I’ll be over here continuing to love and protect my wife and out children as we continue to love our life.”

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McKnight encouraged his 400,000+ Insta-followers to see his whole perspective on YouTube in a five-minute-plus video.

At the time of publication, his biological children had not responded online.