May 5, 2023
Brian McKnight and Estranged Daughter Settle Differences Before Court Battle
The bad parenting rumors that have been following singer Brian McKnight for years aren’t going away anytime soon. One of his children sued the “Back at One” singer several years ago because he “maliciously defamed” her on social media.
According to Radar Online, both parties agreed to throw out the lawsuit, but court documents obtained by the outlet claim that McKnight’s daughter Briana filed a defamation lawsuit against her father in 2020. In the suit, she claimed her father had defamed her via social media when he stated online that she had sex with an older cousin.
McKnight’s daughter said that her father was being motivated by “animosity” when he “publicly humiliated” her “falsely” representing to his social media followers that “she had some years earlier, and while a minor, engaged in sexual relations with an older cousin.”
The singer had an affair with his daughter’s mother, Patricia Driver, while still married to his then-wife Julie McKnight. The once-married couple share two sons, Niko and BJ.
His estranged daughter stated in her lawsuit against McKnight that she had a close relationship with Niko and BJ as children but did not have a very close relationship with her father.
“At times their relationship was cordial, and at times it became strained or all but non-existent,” according to the paperwork. Although the relationship was non-existent, she said the two of them never aired their dirty laundry and she never revealed publicly that Brian was her father.
The 22-year-old tried to create a bond with the R&B singer and his new wife in 2018; however, she claimed he dismissed her and her efforts and “did not see or meaningfully communicate with her.”
In 2019, after being shunned by her father, she took to social media to talk about her “unnamed absent father.” She stated she never mentioned him by name or profession but after viewing the post, he publicly attacked her.
In response to the lawsuit, the Grammy winner denied he did anything wrong and argued his statements were substantially true and that he had no malice when he spoke of the situation.