the career of r b singer songwriter actor record producer and musician brian mcknight
has been a very successful one for more than 30 years thankfully he didn't have to go on this
journey alone since he had his family by his side to experience the highs and lows together
however things took an interesting turn when his children went public
with accusations of abandonment that began back when they were very young
let's find out how things went wrong between brian mcknight and his children
born in buffalo new york and raised in orlando florida as the youngest of four brothers brian
kelly mcknight began his love affair with music like so many other african-american children do in
church as a member of the choir he didn't decide to pursue music on a professional level until he
was motivated to do so by his older brother who landed a record deal with his group take six an
acapella gospel sextet brian thought if my brother can do it so can i and he did he signed his first
record deal at the age of 19 and four years after that released his self-titled debut album
four singles were released off a certified platinum album but it was a smash hit one last
cry which peaked at number 13 on the billboard hot 100 chart that sparked the start of his journey to
super stardom and solidified his place as one of the best male vocalists of his generation
just before the start of his career at the tender age of 20 brian married his college
sweetheart singer-songwriter julie turney in 1990. they would go on to have two sons
it's great that things worked out since just before the wedding they were both
reeling from the aftermath of being expelled from the very religious school they both attended
julie was booted for going on an out-of-town trip without permission
and brian for being caught with julie in his room without permission to the people on the
outside looking in they seem to have it all but that wasn't the case in a july 2000 interview
with ebony magazine it was mentioned that they had been separated twice in the past alluding to
the fact that his career frequently takes him away from his family for long periods of time
brian said it's not easy but we've decided that no matter what we're just going to be together he
also added that he believed that even if he worked a regular 9-5 job things wouldn't be any better he
said i'm not the type of person who needs or wants somebody on me 24 hours a day she doesn't either
that statement would prove to be foreshadowing and ironic since they would both get their wish
when they divorced three years later and brian would do a complete about face and gush to anyone
who would listen about how much he loves being with his new bride every second of every day
so when did brian's relationship with his children sour
well it's hard to tell you'll be hard-pressed to find any harsh exchanges between him
and any of the six of them over the years yes you heard right six allegedly
brian and julie only had two but somewhere along the way he
possibly fathered four more the specifics are kind of fuzzy
one woman even took him to court and the dna test apparently proved he wasn't the father
also according to the birth dates three out of those four were born while brian was still
legally married to his wife anyway regardless of how many children brian actually has two of
them decided to publicly air out their grievances with him in 2019 his eldest son brian mcknight jr
also referred to as bj and his sister brianna mcknight both made instagram posts speaking about
the hurt and disappointment they felt towards their father for years of abandonment and neglect
the timing of the pose could definitely be seen as desperate with a side of envy since
it came on the heels of a post on brian's seniors account congratulating his stepson
jack on his brand new car and how proud he was that jack worked to contribute to the payment
without being asked the post from brian's children came just a few days later
in 2017 brian senior married his longtime girlfriend pediatric neurophysiologist
leilani malia mendoza and it seems that's also when things started to really go downhill
with his relationship with his older children bj's post that has since been deleted reads
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 firstborn's firstborn 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 with us
who are you brianna knight brianna followed up with her own pose saying i grew up thinking that
the things that happened to me and my dad's relationship was my fault 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
not one word at a very young age i was always second place in my father's heart
maybe even third fourth or fifth depending on the situation it's not surprising that
their father responded immediately issuing a statement of his own speaking to the fact that
the reason behind the issues his children have with him can be summed up in one word
entitlement in a seven minute instagram video titled today's nonsense he voices his own
suspicions that the outrage probably does stem from the post he made about his stepson's new car
emphasizes the grown man ages of both of his eldest sons 30 and 27 respectively
even though only bj made a post and the fact that he's never missed a day of child support
he said i've always been there with advice whether they took it or not i've always been
the sounding board and i've always been the one that tried to help them achieve whatever dreams
they were wanting to reach out for i guess one of my only faults is that i gave my children
everything that i didn't have in the hopes that they would appreciate it because i know how much
i would have appreciated it when i was their age one major gift that his two eldest children did
receive was a fully paid apartment for two years the only stipulation was that they take that time
to get jobs and become financially stable on their own two years came and went and that didn't happen
so brian washed his hands their stepmother even gave it her best shot as a doctor she
used her connections at the hospital she worked at to get both men a job however their love for
mary jane wouldn't allow it to work since they wouldn't be able to pass the mandatory drug test
as if all that wasn't enough bj took things to a criminal level when he broke into his father and
stepmother's home several months before his viral post and vandalized their property including their
wedding photos then things got very weird towards the end of the video when brian senior briefly
touches on the subject of his daughter according to him his relationship with brianna deteriorated
when her mother cut off all contact right after he had stepped in to deal with the issue of her
allegedly having an intimate relationship with one of her older cousins while she was underage
brian also added her mother only had a child with me for money in the first place
which lends to the idea that the motivation behind the estrangement could have something to do with
the fact that brianna was about to turn 18 later that year and since the child support payments
would likely stop her mother possibly didn't care about continuing to maintain a strong connection
now that the dust has settled it doesn't appear that any moves have been made on either side to
bridge the gap between father and child leilani his stepchildren and in-laws are plastered
all over brian's social media unlike his own children as of the making of this video you
need to scroll all the way back to 2018 to find a photo of any of them on his instagram
maybe a red table talk conversation is in order thanks for watching please like
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