Singer Brian McKnight Publicly Shaded His Estranged Children, And The Internet Is Very Upset With Him

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'90s R&B singer Brian McKnight is trending on Twitter for all the wrong reasons.

closeup of Mcknight singing
Paras Griffin / Getty Images

According to Billboard, the 53-year-old singer who last had a major hit in 1999, is once again being called out for not acknowledging his biological children and it's really, really messy.

closeup of mcknight
Prince Williams / Getty Images

The latest criticism came after this 2020 Instagram post resurfaced where Brian thanked his stepdaughter for making him a "girl dad" and for being the "perfect daughter [he] always wanted."

But, here's the tea. Brian McKnight also has another daughter.

In fact, McKnight has four biological children from previous relationships: Brian Jr., Briana, Niko, and Clyde.

brian with brian jr and niko
Tibrina Hobson / WireImage

Brian is currently married to Lilani Mendoza, who has four children, three of whom are from a previous relationship, and her youngest, Brian (yes, they named another one of his sons Brian, too), a baby she shares with McKnight. And the internet is rightfully uncomfortable about Brian's effort to diss his biological children on social media.

In another post celebrating his stepson's birthday, he says he "could not have asked for a better legacy, father to son."

In a different post, Brian says, "For the very first time in my life, I got to experience what it's like to want to and plan to have a child made from love," and how he's never been "prouder in [his] life being the father" to his three stepchildren.

mcknight at a keyboard
John Lamparski / Getty Images

And after the birth of his youngest son, Brian, he referred to him as his "true heir."

Sharing the love of his stepchildren is great, but it appears like he's making an effort to diss his biological children with every post and it's sad. Back in 2019, Brian shared a video to justify his estranged relationship with his biological children, and I'm not sure it makes anything better.

closeup of brian in the video

Unfortunately, his family's issues are common, but I think it's how his social media is used, which is getting under everyone's skin:

He's trying waaaay too hard to put out this narrative. He doesn't seem like a man who's in love and happy with his current situation. He sounds like a man who's really ANGRY about his past situation. There is a difference.

— Dirma Dee Duncan (@DirmaDee) May 2, 2023

lol. Most ppl know men like this irl but you believe them when they tell you their family was horrible to justify abandoning them. 🙃

— Thick Judge Judy (@Heyyyy_Eon) May 2, 2023

He can’t speak without making sure everyone knows he hates his past family.

— Alice (@AliceKh65) May 2, 2023

He disowned the black kids he claimed they are lazy and was using him. He’s one of those dads

— Pusha B. (@lipsticknlyricz) April 30, 2023

people who see this as no issue are simply exposing what kind of parents they are/grew up with and its absolutely terrifying. Even if this was his bio kid, its still not normal to say when he was already a "girl dad" before this one

— Tbee (@Tbee423) April 30, 2023

I get he's having issues with his kids... it happens but to try & erase them like they don't exist that's vile... As a parent, you should always try to build communication, but what he's doing is proving his children right... He never loved them & his step kids are more important

— Reality TV Junkie (@Mz_Poke) April 30, 2023

It always makes me sad to see parents turn their back on their children because if you’re so unhappy with the person they became how come you’re avoiding that they learned it all from you.

— Micokina Yurmout (@MamaMoxieB) May 1, 2023

He has an estranged relationship with his elder kids. It has been documented publicly. I believe like two years ago the kids came out about how he cut them off mind you they grown and expected Brian to support them (however that is be it money or help they music careers..) sad

— TJ!!! (@Itsjustteajay26) April 29, 2023

Oh trust me there’s a lot of dads out there in this world that are just like this… they just don’t say anything about it..

— SSJ4 goku 💫🐐 (@Dro2H) April 30, 2023