As a parent, Kirk Franklin has consistently taken the high road when it comes to his son Kerrion Franklin. In Dec. 2021, Kerrion exposed his father by sharing a recorded clip from their private conversation on Instagram. In the audio clip, the Grammy-winning artist can be heard screaming and using profane language and making statements like “.before I put my foot up yo ass.”
About 28 minutes into his interview on “The Breakfast Club” on Thursday, June 16, DJ Envy asked if the two have healed from their incident. Kirk said, “We historically have tried to keep our journey with our son and his state a private family matter. Listen, I love my son and we’ve been here for many, many years. I’ve done everything that I could to try to help him for many, many, many years.”
The 52-year-old describes his son as a “very talented, beautiful soul in the way that he was wired.” Kirk then motioned his hands around his head in a reference to mental health.
“It’s not necessarily his fault. Some of us are born with very unique wires, and a lot of times in our community it is hard for us to acknowledge certain wires. We want to think it’s something else,” he explained. “We see people outside of our community … they’re very quick to lean toward science and medicine and information, right? Not our community.”
He acknowledged that historically Black people are “distrusting” of medical systems, the health care system, science, and systems as a whole. “We have had to walk through many layers historically with my son,” he added, before mentioning his son’s arrest.
After the incident, Kerrion continued to make headlines for revealing more about their relationship online, including vaguely opening up about his mental health. However, on April 10, the 34-year-old was pulled over and arrested in Los Angeles. He was found driving a vehicle that belonged to a missing woman Beverly Hills police believed to be dead. The “Bad Boys: Los Angeles” star claimed he was set up after a firearm was reportedly found in the car. He was released on June 1.
In response to how he felt about his son exposing him, Kirk said, “Right now I am proud of him. It’s because he is … we are privately trying to address some of those things, and I have to realize, Envy, that he may never understand the gravity of what he did. And for me I may have to live with that and put his well-being before what he did.”
When Kerrion released the recording, many believe he intended to taint his father’s career and image in the gospel community. Kirk hopes his son can learn to “accept” and deal with his mental health.
He said, “As a 34-year-old man, his willingness to accept the uniqueness of how God has wired him and to embrace that. And to embrace the tools that are available would be a very beautiful thing is because that will give you a greater opening of understanding what life is about. It gives you context. More than anything, I’m grateful that he felt like in his darkness hour that we pulled up.”
Kirk then gave a shoutout to Kerrion’s mother, Shawn Ewing, whom he called a “hero.” He admitted he was “disappointed” in himself and how he reacted on the recording, stating “there were two separate recordings” from “two different days.”
“I hadn’t talked to my son in five years when he called me. But I do want people to know I love him,” he admits. “I want the world to hear it loud. I love my son.”
