Gospel artist Kirk Franklin has apologized over an audio clip posted online by his son in which he can be heard shouting and swearing during a heated argument.
In an apology posted to Twitter on Sunday, the "Love Theory" singer confirmed that he was the person in the audio shared on Instagram by his 32-year-old son Kerrion Franklin.
In the Instagram audio, Kirk Franklin tells his son he needs to get his "mother-f****** a**" out the way "before I put my foot in your a**", and says he will "break your neck" if his son ever disrespects him.
Kerrion can be heard telling his father, "I dare you."
He then says: "He just hung up the phone. 'I'll break your neck.' Is that a threat?"
The post has been viewed over 617,000 times.
Accompanying the audio clips, Kerrion wrote in the caption, "This is why I'm done.
"No father should speak to their children like this. If I have any issues it's because Of this type of treatment that ii deal with behind closed doors [sic].
"Hanging up in my face, No apology, no compassion, no effort. Stop telling me to go home to my family I don't even know where they live.
"I don't think I'll ever trust my father to be alone around him ever again."
Kerrion then says that he "didn't want to" release the audio and "probably won't release the entire recording" because "it's too embarrassing."
"No matter what ppl think I pray my dad deals with his deep hatred toward me [sic]," he continues.
"I don't feel safe around him at all. This recording is recent it is not from 2018 just to clarify. Im going to learn from these experiences, live my life in peace and make beautiful art [sic]."
In a video message apologizing, Kirk Franklin, 51, said his language was "inappropriate."
"For many years, we have had a toxic relationship with him as a family," he said.
"We've tried for many years through counseling, through therapy to try to rectify this private family matter.
"Recently my son and I had an argument that he chose to record. I felt extremely disrespected in that conversation and I lost my temper and I said words that are not appropriate and I am sincerely sorry to all of you. I sincerely apologize."
He also claimed that he had sought the help of a family therapist during the row.
"I want you to know as a father that during that conversation, I called the family therapist and got that therapist on the phone to try to help. He never played that part of the recording," Kirk said.
He ended by asking fans to pray for his family.
"I'm not perfect. I'm human and I'm going to make mistakes and I'm trying to get it right. Please keep me and my family in your prayers," he said.
