Grammy-winning gospel singer Kirk Franklin has opened up about why he stopped speaking to his mother at the age of 32. During an appearance on the ‘Funky Friday’ podcast, the 54-year-old artist shared a deeply personal story about the incident that led to their estrangement.
Franklin explained that the rift occurred when his sister, who was struggling with drug addiction, was released from prison. As the only family member trying to help her, Franklin organized a family intervention to support her rehabilitation. However, the situation took a turn when his biological mother arrived with her new husband.
"For the first time ever, I'm going to tell this story," Franklin began. "I was 32 years old, and my sister had just gotten out of prison. I was the only one trying to help her with accommodation and other things. We needed to do an intervention to help her, and during the family meeting, my mother showed up with her new husband."
Franklin recalled that after the intervention, his mother’s husband suddenly confronted him, saying, "What you need to do is call your mama sometimes." Franklin, feeling disrespected, responded by reminding the man that she was his mother and he was the child. The argument escalated, and what happened next broke Franklin's heart.
"My mother did something that crushed me," he said. "She grabbed his hand and said, ‘Come on, baby, let’s go,’ and walked out with him and her two kids. I yelled, ‘That’s right, go ahead and walk out like you always do.’"
Franklin described how his mother's choice to prioritize her new husband over her children was a defining moment for him. "For the fact that she didn’t say, ‘Stay out of this, this is between me and my kids—kids I didn’t raise, kids I didn’t nurture, kids I didn’t protect,’ but instead walked out with him, I promised myself that as a grown man, I would never allow myself to be treated like that again."
