Brian McKnight has filed a defamation lawsuit against Rickey Smiley’s The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, Foxy 107.1’s radio host Karen Clark and media company Urban One over several interviews involving his ex-wife and older children.
What is Brian McKnight accusing the plaintiffs of in his lawsuit?
The “Back at One” singer filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. In the filing, Brian McKnight alleged that Clark used an interview from Jan. 23, 2025, to amplify claims from his ex-wife, Julie McKnight, that he was “emotionally abusive, mentally abusive, and a neglectful father,” according to court documents obtained by AllHipHop.
The award-winning musician alleged that Clark sided with many of Julie McKnight’s claims about him during parts of the interview, including when it was alleged that he asked her and their then-young children to leave their shared home. Julie McKnight also said that she has been constantly “putting out fires” involving their adult children and Brian McKnight’s “lies” about his family.
Julie McKnight described a “very, very negative” text that Brian McKnight allegedly sent to their late son, Niko McKnight, during his cancer battle. She said her children started distancing themselves from their father due to his behavior, per AllHipHop.
Brian McKnight accused Clark of engaging in the conversation with head-nods, agreeing with Julie McKnight’s remarks about him and using her questions to validate the story. He also stated that it was not a fair interview and that Foxy 107.1 never verified Julie McKnight’s claims and did not give him the opportunity to respond or add a disclaimer, the suit states, according to AllHipHop.
Details on the singer’s longstanding feud with Smiley and his show
The Buffalo, New York, native has also named the nationally syndicated show The Rickey Smiley Morning Show in his complaint, accusing the program of fueling the situation during a Dec. 15, 2025, podcast episode.
The show’s team played a clip of Brian McKnight’s eldest son, Brian McKnight Jr., claiming in another interview that his father shunned Niko McKnight after he wanted Brian McKnight to tell him that he loved him.
As Blavity reported, McKnight Jr. and Julie McKnight shared the details of that exchange in an exclusive Patreon interview with Marc Lamont Hill. At the time, McKnight Jr. recalled Niko McKnight calling him, crying about what Brian McKnight said to him, and that he warned his younger brother not to contact him because he “knew what was going to happen.”
“Because I knew where my dad was, I told [Niko], ‘Dad is gone.’ All my brother wanted, needed, asked for was my father to tell him he loves him,” he said during the interview. “My father responds to my brother, ‘I can’t arbitrarily say that I love you.’ But this is the man that wanted to help him?”
Brian McKnight said the December clip was edited and that it was aired without context or his side of the story. He claimed that McKnight Jr. and Julie McKnight falsely alleged that he was cold toward his son in his final days.
How much is Brian McKnight seeking in damages?
Brian McKnight also stated that on-air reactions from the Rickey Smiley team agreed with his son’s remarks and that Urban One is using their platforms to “validate and reinforce” a damaging narrative about him, per AllHipHop.
Despite reaching out to Rickey Smiley in the past, Brian McKnight claimed that Smiley, his team and Urban One continued to push “misleading” comments about Brian McKnight and his relationship with his older children.
He has accused all parties involved of defamation, negligent and reckless publication and vicarious liability. He is seeking more than $25,000 in compensatory damages on each claim, plus punitive damages.
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