Brian McKnight isn’t on the best terms with his big brood.
The singer has been estranged from his eldest children for years while proudly parenting a young son and two stepkids with wife Leilani McKnight.
After being slammed on social media for “disowning” some of his family members in April 2024, Brian referred to them as a “product of sin.”
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He claimed that the Instagram hater bashing him didn’t “know the full story” and should “take [their] inaccurate negativity” elsewhere.
While filming a Q&A session at the time, he explained, “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].”
Page Six is breaking down McKnight’s complicated familial relationships below.
Brian McKnight Jr.
Brian was married to ex-wife Julie McKnight from 1990 to 2003, and the former couple share two sons, Brian Jr. and Niko.
Brian Jr. has followed in his dad’s footsteps and works as a musician, most recently releasing “The Collection” in 2023.
He also has kids of his own, often sharing sweet tributes to son Brian III and daughters Ember and Lyla on social media.
Brian Jr. celebrated a decade of parenthood via Instagram in April 2024, gushing, “I remember being 24, and scared out of my mind… Now at 34, I’m still scared out of my mind… But for much different reasons.”
Niko McKnight
Niko, who works as a Los Angeles-based photographed (per his linkedIn), has butted heads with his dad online on multiple occasions.
He claimed Brian “abandoned” him and his siblings in 2019 — and then clapped back at Brian’s “product of sin” statement five years later.
“The guy who used to make me clean his used condoms out his bathroom at 15 before Lisa got home is calling me evil Fashoooooo,” Niko wrote in an April 2024 Instagram comment. “The guy who forged [signatures] on our names is evil fashoooooooo.”
He then tweeted, “Hate us all day. You don’t get to be a piece of s–t forever and still skate by with all that we know.
“We saved that man from federal prison,” Niko continued. “That’s all I’m going to say. But after all of this, I still love him so much because I know there’s my dad in there somewhere. But he’s a drone now. So f–king sad. Miss you, Dad.”
Brian did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment at the time.
Briana McKnight
Brian’s daughter Briana with ex Patricia Driver rarely appeared on his social media before their estrangement besides a February 2012 photo of her “chilling at the crib.”
Briana made headlines when she took her father to court in 2020, suing him for defamation.
When the songwriter settled the lawsuit before it went to trial, he subsequently leaked court documents in a 2023 Instagram carousel showing he agreed to pay Briana more than $250,000.
At the time, he told his YouTube subscribers that he had changed his will since “roads towards reconciliation and acknowledg[ment]” are a “dead issue.”
Clyde McKnight
Brian became a stepfather in December 2017 when he married Leilani — and thanked her daughter, Julia, for making him a “girl dad” in 2020.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter,” he gushed via Instagram at the time. “Here’s to you Jules the perfect daughter I always wanted.”
Julia is a University of California Santa Barbara graduate.
Jack McPhee
Leilani’s son Jack graduated high school in 2021.
The following year, Brian referred to his stepson as his “legacy,” telling his Instagram followers that he “could not have asked for … better” than “perfect” Jack.
Jack and his sister’s names are included in Brian’s Instagram bio.
Kekoa McKnight
Leilani suffered a pregnancy loss in May 2022, with her and Brian naming the late infant Kekoa.
“We celebrate, love and honor you today and every day our beautiful baby boy,” she wrote in an Instagram tribute. “Until will see you again someday, We love you.”
Brian commented, “I know how hard him not being here in the flesh with us is weighing incredibly heavy on us, but I know he is with us just like Julia and Jack are, as shining examples of your exceptional motherhood.”
Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr.
The couple’s rainbow baby was born in January 2023 — and named Brian Jr., just like Brian’s eldest son with Julie.
The “Back at One” crooner changed his name to Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. to “exactly match” the newborn’s moniker.
Adult Brian Jr. responded via X, tweeting, “I’m not ashamed of the name my ancestors had. 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.”
