Comedian Gary Owen is opening up about the effects his separation from his wife, Kenya Duke, has had on his relationship with his three adult children Emilio, Austin, and Kennedy Owen.
The stand-up comedian-turned-actor sat down this week with “The Breakfast Club,” where he revealed it’s been over a year since he last spoke to his kids.
“I haven’t talked to them in like a year and a half,” Owen admitted. “They’re mad because I left their mom.”
Owen, 48, and Duke, 47, were together for 23 years before filing for divorce. While it was announced back in July that it was Kenya who filed first for the separation, Owen said during the interview that it was he who initially wanted the divorce .
“I left, I filed first, I made the phone call first saying, ‘I want a divorce.’”
The “Think Like A Man” actor also explained how his kids found out about him and their mother’s divorce, which played a huge factor in what started the rift in their relationship.
“We didn’t tell the kids, we were gonna like wait and do it together, but TMZ, that’s how they found out.”
Going nearly two years without speaking to his children took a toll on Owen, especially since he’s supposedly never missed a birthday.
“I never missed a birthday and then I missed these last two for both.” He said defeatedly .
Attempts to reach out to his daughter, Kennedy, have been made with no success. In the interview, Gary discussed numerous occasions where he allegedly tried to visit her, but was left hanging.
“I’ve gone to Greensboro because my daughter’s at A&T, knocked on her door and she wouldn’t answer. Tried to see her at the airport one time, tried to catch her and then you know I don’t know what to do at this point.”
All in all, Gary understood where his children were coming from and why they felt so betrayed. He spoke, “In my daughter’s eyes, in my son’s eyes it’s like ‘You did her [Kenya Duke] wrong, how could you do that to her.’”
As the interview met the halfway mark, Gary candidly expressed how he’d like to eventually make amends with his children and have that father/daughter/son bond again.
“I just want to have a relationship with my kids again honestly.”
While Gary and his children relationship is in a limbo state, he has accepted the current state he and his estranged wife are currently in. Although their separation unfolded in a way he’d never expect, he stated healing needs to happen first before the two can ever become cordial again.
“I think the divorce has to become final first and then we can star the healing process.”
