Brian McKnight‘s eldest son, Brian McKnight Jr., has finally responded to his father’s rather strange announcement of a name change.
This weekend, the son of the “One Last Cry” singer took to Instagram to blast his famous father for his “obscene level of self hate,” claiming that it “has reached mental illness status.”
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The whole situation began when the senior McKnight took to Instagram on Saturday (October 21) to announce that he had a new album out, and that the project features his youngest son, nine-month-old Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Jr. In that same announcement, McKnight revealed that he had changed his own name to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. so that his infant son could be a “true” junior.
This is despite the fact that there already is a Brian McKnight Jr. — the now-in-his-thirties son of the 54-year-old singer and his ex-wife Julie. McKnight’s current wife, and the mother of the newest junior, is Dr. Leilani Malia Mendoza.
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The announcement prompted some serious backlash from longtime fans of McKnight Sr, and also prompted the original Brian McKnight Jr. to take to his own Instagram stories on Sunday (October 22) to address the situation head-on.
“I’m not ashamed of the name my ancestors had,” he wrote. “I’ll never change the name my own son now has. We are witnessing an obscene level of self hate, that has reached mental illness status at this point.
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“All we can do is pray for that man, and my new little brother, who we will all welcome with open arms one day, once he realizes who his real family is. Legacy isn’t in the name. It’s in the character of the people. It will all be quite clear soon, just who’s on the right side of all this, because there’s no escaping what’s coming.”
Check out both posts below:
This isn’t the first time that Brian McKnight Jr. has had to address the situation around his name. Back in June, he revealed that his father asked him to change his name — and he refused the request.
“I appreciate my lineage, and I appreciate where my name comes from,” he said. “And it’s also my son’s name. So, I just feel like, in my heart, that I would be giving off an incredibly wrong message, and set the wrong example, if I changed my name just because my father did.”
The “Love Is” singer has faced claims of “abandonment” from the children of his first marriage, and he took to Instagram to emphatically deny the claims, saying that the estrangement was “mutual.”
“To whom it may concern: NO ABANDONMENT, NO MADE UP STORY, NO FALSE STATEMENTS, NO DEFAMATION,” he wrote in the caption.
“I never abandoned anyone,” he said in the video. “Our 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.
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“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.”
He continued: “I make absolutely no apologies for naming my infant 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 our children, as we continue to love our life.”
