Kirk Franklin says he'll continue being Kerrion's father after N-word-laden call, fans call it 'performative'
Kirk Franklin is seemingly trying to make amends with his estranged son Kerrion. Franklin, along with his wife Tammy Collins, appeared in a video during the late hours of March 17 in which he gave an explanation on his stance toward his son.
Kerrion, recently made an audio recording public on social media where the award-winning gospel singer can be heard hurling the N-word at his son during an ugly family argument. The video also includes other threats made by Franklin including “I will break yo neck (N-word)".
"Don’t you ever disrespect me," he added during the profanity-laden phone call.
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In a recent interview video with Tamron Hall, shared by USA Today, Kirk Franklin provided an explanation that he will still act as Kerrion's father and will continue to answer his calls. He says, "I'm not going to stop trying to help. He's my son. He's my son, he's my firstborn, and I never want him to feel what I felt not having a father." He continued, "So, even though it gets tense and tight, when he calls from time to time I will answer his call even though I expect it to sometimes kinda derail. It's important for me to-- because what if that call is the call that things change?"
Fan reactions
Meanwhile, fans on Instagram are not convinced. "Performative," described a fan of the clip to which another replied, "perfect word. Like I wanna hear the son's account."
"Kirk blinked too much, he said he done through his eyes 😂," commented a fan.
One fan wrote, "Seriously. He said his son is 'not his equal' like how belittling and degrading is that?" Another added, "his son is 33 not 13...". Over in the comments section for the interview up on YouTube, fans have shared similar views. One fan wrote, "The only person he owes an apology to is God, and then his son. But not to me. And certainly not America. (Recall who King David asked for forgiveness from. Certainly wasn't from random strangers.) Let this family work out their own problems. Moreover, this interview provides so little context to how this fight started. So it really is pointless." "Justification for HIS OWN. SIN! SO SAD. NO TRUE REPENTANCE. Just damage control for that "image"! Sad!," added another user on YouTube.