Brian McKnight claims he offered to help estranged son Niko with his cancer battle – but stopped once his ex-wife, Julie McKnight, intervened.
During the “Back At One” singer’s weekly Q&A on Instagram, he replied to a fan who suggested that he wrote a song about his son, who is “dying in the hospital with Stage 4 cancer.”
“Six months ago, we found out about this [Niko’s cancer diagnosis],” he said. “We called him. We talked to him, we talked to his wife. She told us that she was all alone and handling everything all by herself and it became quickly evident to us that since they didn’t have insurance and they didn’t have access to the proper doctors, naturally, we jumped into action.”
Brian, 54, said that he and his wife, Leilani Mendoza, asked for Niko’s medical reports and “hand-delivered them to the best specialist in the country” who outlined a plan of action to give his son the “best fighting chance.”
“We miraculously found a treatment facility near our home that put him at the top of the list and then we put down a deposit to secure that place,” the musician claimed.
While the 17-time Grammy nominee said he and Mendoza were arranging for Niko and his wife to fly to their home, Brian claimed his ex-wife, Julie, 52, made a “hostile” phone call to him, demanding him to stop helping their son.
“I can only imagine that if that help came from me, that it would go against the strong narrative that’s being pushed out there about me,” Brian continued, referring to claims that he’s a deadbeat father. “So what are we doing? We’re adhering to her wishes because that’s what she wanted and we’re staying out of it.”
Brian concluded his response by saying he and his wife are “praying” for Niko.
Page Six has reached out to both Niko and Julie for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Last week, Niko and Julie blasted the “Anytime” singer after he called his four eldest biological children — — Brian Jr., Niko, Briana and Clyde — “pure evil” and “product of sin.”
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“I’m evil. That’s wild: The guy who used to make me clean his used condoms out his bathroom at 15 before Lisa got home is calling me evil Fashoooooo,” he wrote in the comments section of an Instagram post from the Shaderoom.
In a separate comment, he added, “The guy who forged [signatures] on our names is evil fashoooooooo.”
Julie, who shares Niko and Brian Jr. with her ex-husband, compared him to a kid who “throws a tantrum.”
While it’s unclear when the drama between Brian and his children began, in 2019, the “One Last Cry” crooner called them “entitled” in a video.
Then in October 2023, he announced on Instagram that he was changing his name to match that of his son with Mendoza so that he could “exactly match” his legacy — although he was already a senior to his eldest son, Brian Jr.
Brian and Julie divorced in 2003 after 13 years of marriage.
In December 2017, he wed Mendoza in a lavish ceremony at the Oheka Castle in Huntington, NY. The couple welcomed their son, Brian Kainoa Makoa Jr., in January 2023.
The pediatric neurophysiologist is mom to daughter Julia and son Jack from a previous relationship. The R&B singer now claims his toddler son and his stepchildren as his only kids.
