Brian McKnight Slams Brother Over Announcing the Death of Estranged Son Niko

Brian McKnight is speaking out. 

Less than a week after his estranged son Cole Nikolas “Niko” McKnight died following a two-year cancer battle, the “Back At One” singer slammed his brother Claude McKnight for publicly announcing the 32-year-old’s passing.

“A big big thanks to Claude McKnight’s tasteless and self-aggrandizing announcement on TikTok, that frankly was not his to make,” Brian shared in the voiceover of a June 3 Instagram Reel. “In my opinion, he inserted himself and used Niko’s death as an opportunity, instead of letting him pass with respect and dignity.” 

The 55-year-old—who shares Niko, as well as son Brian McKnight Jr., 35, with ex Julie McKnight—went on to criticize his estranged sibling for calling attention to their alleged “family drama” with the tribute. As he put it, “It has instead turned into a circus, a mockery of a life now lost, making this tragedy into a reality show type drama.”

After all, Brian—who is also dad to Brian Kainoa McKnight, 2, and Kekoa Matteo, who died in infancy in 2022, and stepkids Julia McPhee and Jack McPhee with wife of eight years Leilani Mendoza, as well as estranged daughter Brianna McKnight from a previous relationship—said he had flown to Maui and had a private memorial for Niko remembering “all the good times” while everything was “unfolding.”