Brian McKnight said he doesn’t claim his estranged biological kids because they are the “product of sin.”
During a recent Q&A session on Instagram, the “Back At One” singer responded to a fan who defended his decision to no longer claim his four oldest biological children — Brian Jr., Niko, Briana and Clyde — because some relatives can be “pure evil.”
“I wanna big up my man right here. He gets it,” McKnight, 54, said in an Instagram video while pointing at the fan’s comment.
“In order to live a life that you love, you have to get rid of the evil and the negativity — even if that evil and negativity is related [to you].”
“We want everyone to live a life that they love but in order to do that you have to get rid of that evil and negativity.”
A separate fan commented on the 17-time Grammy nominee’s post, writing that McKnight “disowned” his children and has gone “against God.”
The “Anytime” singer replied, “1. God wasn’t talking about children that are the product of sin which these are 2. I didn’t raise them their mothers did 3. Know the whole story before quoting the Bible 4. Take your inaccurate negativity off my page and try being happy.”
McKnight has been at odds with his four eldest children for years.
The singer gained two stepchildren, Julia and Jack McPhee, when he and his current wife, Leilani McKnight, tied the knot in 2017. They welcomed their first son together, Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr., in 2022.
Once the couple got married, the singer’s complicated relationships with his children became a topic of discussion on social media.