Lent 2021, Day 23: About *that* Kirk Franklin recording…
While Kanye was winning a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Jesus is King this weekend, Kirk Franklin, Grammy-winning Gospel artist, was making headlines for a leaked recording during which he used language that Mr. West has used on every other one of his albums. From The Source:
According to a recent social media post, gospel singer Kirk Franklin’s 33-year-old son was threatened by his father that he would “put his foot in his ass” for disrespecting him.
From the beginning, the elder Franklin can be heard calling his estranged son a “b***h a**” and towards the end told his son, “I will break your neck n***a!”
His son has come out in the news before about Franklin’s alleged vengeful ways, claiming that his father tried to kill him.
You can listen to the recording below, and obviously, it’s NSFW and if you have little ears around, pop in those earbuds.
When I first saw this story, it wasn’t the cursing that caught me. It’s the fact his son secretly recorded it then posted it on social media. He’s 33 years old, not some misguided ignorant teen. How on God’s green Earth did this man think this would be beneficial to anyone but those in need of some celeb gossip tea? After the recording went viral, Kirk took to social media to apologize. Some more from The Source, including the apology:
“Many of you know I have an older son named Kerrion Franklin. In May, he’ll be 33. For many years, we’ve had a toxic relationship with him as a family. We tried for many years through counseling, through therapy, to try and rectify this private family matter.”
– Kirk Franklin
“Recently, my son and I had an argument that he chose to record. I felt extremely disrespected in that conversation and I lost my temper. I said words that were not appropriate and I am sincerely sorry to all of you. I sincerely apologize,” Franklin added.
Franklin would also reveal that he called a family therapist to help with the situation. In return, Kerrion asked fans to not “crucify” his father. He would go on to add “my father has been speaking very mean & manipulatively to me for 15 years now.
Kirk closed with the words that he’s not perfect; he’s human and will make mistakes. Lord knows how much I can relate. We all fall short, especially when it comes to family relationships! While I’m glad to see most commenters not being precious about the Rated R- language, we should all avoid crucifying anyone in this story, not even Kerrion. Jesus already did it for us. Pray for them, ya’ll.
- Read John 8:1-11.
- Listen to Kirk Franklin’s “Pray for Me.” Below: