Kirk Franklin Finds Biological Father, Reconciles With Estranged Son In New Documentary: Watch
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Earlier this month, Kirk Franklin teased that “Father’s Day would never be the same” as his story became ours. He was referring to his new documentary, Father’s Day—which also happens to be the name of his new album, coming on Oct. 6.
When the Grammy winner, 53, began working on the LP back in March, he couldn’t have predicted that the journey would be as transformative as it’s been. For the first time in his career, he was documenting the process of creating the personal album and one month after recording the first song, he explained to PEOPLE, “Everything shifted and became something I could have never planned for.”
At a family member’s funeral, a man named Rick Hubbard approached the family of Franklin’s childhood friend and stated that he dated the producer’s biological mother, Debra, as a teenager. This marked the beginning of the Hello Fear artist discovering who his biological father is. It was confirmed twice through paternity tests that Hubbard is Franklin’s father.
The news was shocking for the God’s Property frontman for many reasons—one being that Debra lied and stated Franklin’s father was another man named Dwight Allen, who died in 2017.
Though Franklin made peace with Allen before his death, he explained in the 35-minute documentary that this mystery of who his father was fed many of his insecurities well into adulthood. He stated, “To live over half a century with somebody who lived in the same city as you…I suffered so much as a young man without guidance. I struggled with love, intimacy, faith, identity. And to know that the answer was less than 10 minutes away.”
Throughout the film, Franklin details him meeting Hubbard, who lives minutes from his studio, and shows the gaslighting confrontation with his mother, Debra and her sister, Sandra. Debra adamantly rejected the paternity results. Franklin’s emotional journey also led to the “Melodies From Heaven” artist reconciling with his 35-year-old son, Kerrion. The pair’s estranged relationship has been documented over the years, especially after a heated argument between them leaked to the public.
“My son is a beautiful soul. There are parts of his life that are his to share. I am just very proud that I’m seeing him in his own way,” Franklin told PEOPLE. “He is beginning to reveal and testify to his struggles, his own battles with certain things that have at times cost him. I know many young Black men struggle with these same things and as he continues to get help and healing he’s going to help so many. He has me and now his grandfather that will be there to help in any way we can.”
With Franklin’s new album, he revealed that he named it Father’s Day because, “’It’s what I missed, where I am and what has always been’ and even when I want to curse the sky, I’m still built to believe.” Watch the full documentary below.
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