Brian McKnight has filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife, Julie McKnight, his son Brian McKnight Jr., journalist Marc Lamont Hill, and blogger Tasha K.
In the suit, obtained by TMZ on Wednesday (April 22), McKnight claims to be the victim of a “shockingly dishonest” and “sensational but false narrative” regarding his parenting and relationship with his sons.
In particular, the narrative claims that McKnight refused to tell his late son, Niko McKnight, that he loved him. Niko died at the age of 32 on May 30, 2025, following a year-long battle with cancer. The claim stems from comments Julie McKnight made during a December 2025 interview with Page Six.
“Those words should come easily, freely and often,” she said. “And in Niko’s case, lying on his sick bed, fighting through pain, fear and uncertainty, he deserved that love spoken over him more than ever.”
Brian McKnight Jr. also backed up the claim during an interview with Hill, which Page Six shared in December 2025. He reportedly called McKnight’s alleged refusal “one of the darkest and coldest and most disheartening memories of [his] life.”
Hill called out McKnight during an episode of The Joe Budden Podcast in November 2025, referencing his interviews with both Julie and McKnight Jr.
“You’re an a–hole. I’m basing that on having interviewed Brian McKnight a lot of times. You were rude and nasty to everybody on my crew,” Hill said. “But that’s not why we’re talking about this. I don’t know you, but I don’t have to know you to know you’re an a–hole. I don’t get into your family business. Your family business has nothing to do with me. Except when you make it public. And when you put your family in public on blast, that might make you an a–hole.”
McKnight also claims that blogger Tasha K is falsely accusing him of having had sex with a minor, per TMZ. He is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages over the case.
McKnight previously sued The Rickey Smiley Morning Show and its parent company, Urban One, in March 2026, according to Inside Radio.
The suit seeks $25,000 in damages for airing an interview between radio host Karen Clark and Julie McKnight that he claims falsely amplified portrayals of him as an abusive and neglectful father, in addition to clips of Brian McKnight Jr.’s interview with Hill.
Urban One is currently seeking dismissal of the case, arguing that McKnight’s claims fail to meet the legal standards for defamation and “cannot be reasonably interpreted as stating facts.”
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