Brian McKnight Jr. is slamming his dad, Brian McKnight, for celebrating his legal victory against his ex-wife, Julie, on Jr.’s late brother’s birthday.
McKnight Jr. took to his Instagram Story to air out his estranged father.
"I’ve tried, man. I’ve tried really, really hard. To not touch on shit. To let it go, to be the bigger person, to be mature,” McKnight Jr. said.
“But the shit going on with my dad right now, man. If y’all aren’t seeing what’s happening. If y’all aren’t seeing the fact that this is just a very hurt, and a very emotionally unavailable and not intelligent person that has still not been able to handle the death of his own mother…to decide to make certain posts on my late brother’s birthday?"
McKnight Jr continued, "Say what you want, dog. But the gloves are off for me."
At that point, he did concede to understanding that his parents had a difficult marriage. Still, he believed his dad was out of line for gloating about claiming he'd won millions in a defamation case against Julie on Niko McKnight’s first heavenly birthday.
McKnight Jr.’s little brother passed away in May following a two-year battle with cancer, and would have turned 32 years old on Oct. 16.
"You don’t want me to start talking about the things that I had to deal with in my childhood,” McKnight Jr. explained. “The things that I will take to my grave. The things that my brother took to his grave that we could put out there. The things that we could say…because our dad wasn’t emotionally intelligent enough nor mature enough to actually be a father. You don’t want that."
He then deemed his dad’s post to be “petty.” He added, "Who are you trying to hurt if it’s not me, and my mother, and my family?"
On Thursday, McKnight took to IG, claiming that he won $8.8 million against his ex-wife in a defamation judgment after she failed to appear in court. Per court records, McKnight was indeed awarded a default judgment in a hearing last month, but the details of the judgment — including any monetary penalties — were not available.
"It’s been a long journey getting to this day: October 16th, 2025," Brian said in his IG video. "The verdict is in. We’ve been quiet, listening to liars continue to lie and keeping to ourselves, living and loving our life. As we said, leaving everything in God’s hands and letting our lawyer do the talking. But according to the courts, trying to ruin my name and trying to bring harm to my family in a book filled with lies equals $8.8 million dollars. And this is just the beginning.”
Back in May, McKnight took legal action against his ex-wife. In court documents obtained by Complex, he accused Julie of making “false statements” about him in her book, Mama Bear: Beautifully Blended. He also took issue with her allegations that he emotionally abused and harassed her, and sought compensatory damages.