{"id":10160,"date":"2026-04-05T00:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/brian-mcknight-lawsuit-over-ex-wife-interview-baseless-says-urban-one\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T00:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:12:50","slug":"brian-mcknight-lawsuit-over-ex-wife-interview-baseless-says-urban-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/brian-mcknight-lawsuit-over-ex-wife-interview-baseless-says-urban-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian McKnight Lawsuit Over Ex-Wife Interview Baseless, Says Urban One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\tRadio conglomerate Urban One is asking a court to throw out Brian McKnight\u2019s defamation lawsuit over broadcasts on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show<\/em> and a North Carolina local station.<\/p>\n

\n\tA lawyer for the network says in a Friday (April 3) motion to dismiss that the R&B singer has no legally viable claims for defamation. The January lawsuit took issue with programs on two Urban One affiliates last year: his ex-wife\u2019s appearance on the North Carolina-based satellite station FOXY 107.1, and Rickey Smiley<\/em>\u2019s excerpted rebroadcast of an interview given by the musician\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe FOXY 107.1 appearance in January 2025 featured Julie McKnight, who was married to Brian from 1990 to 2003. Julie, who was promoting her book Mama Bear: Beautifully Blended<\/em>, stated during the interview with FOXY\u2019s Karen Clark that Brian was \u201cnegative\u201d during their late son Niko\u2019s cancer treatment, and that she and her children had \u201cstepped away\u201d from the singer due to harmful behavior.<\/p>\n

\n\tFriday\u2019s motion argues that Urban One can\u2019t be held liable for anything said by Julie, who has never been an employee of the network. And nothing that Clark herself uttered during the interview rises to the level of defamation, says Urban One\u2019s attorney.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Ms. Clark statements identified by plaintiff cannot reasonably be interpreted as stating actual facts about plaintiff,\u201d writes Lauren Nichols<\/strong> of the firm Troutman Pepper Locke. \u201cThe alleged \u2018defamatory statements\u2019 are not truly factual statements \u2014 most are merely questions. And any statement not solely a question, is at most an expression of opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Urban One, Brian fares no better in bringing a defamation claim over Rickey Smiley<\/em>\u2019s December episode featuring clips from an outside interview given by his son, Brian McKnight Jr. In these clips, the younger Brian said his father refused to tell Niko he loved him before Niko died from cancer.<\/p>\n

\n\tUrban One says these claims fail, too, because Brian \u201cdoes not identify any specific statements or content from this video that plaintiff asserts are defamatory.\u201d Plus, the company notes that because Brian is a public figure, he has to meet the higher burden of showing that someone intentionally lied (a standard known as \u201cactual malice\u201d) in order to advance the case forward. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cEven assuming the statements made by Urban One were indeed statements of \u2018actual fact,\u2019 not opinion\/hyperbole, and could be defamatory (they cannot), plaintiff does not allege any facts that Urban One knew, or should have known, the statements were false or that any statements were made with a reckless disregard for the truth,\u201d reads the dismissal motion.<\/p>\n

\n\tUrban One is urging a federal judge in Raleigh, N.C., to toss the lawsuit outright before any evidence discovery or trial. Brian\u2019s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment on the motion.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe R&B singer, known for chart-topping songs like \u201cAnytime\u201d and \u201cBack at One,\u201d has been on somewhat of a defamation lawsuit spree since Julie published Mama Bear <\/em>at the beginning of 2025. He has pending libel claims against his ex-wife for passages of the book that characterize him as emotionally abusive and neglectful towards their children.<\/p>\n

\n\tBrian also sued singer\/songwriter Jaguar Wright last year over a slew of Instagram videos stating that he was physically abusive to Julie as well as to sex workers during their marriage. Brian denies all claims of mental or physical abuse.<\/p>\n


\"Billboard
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