Before performing at a “family-friendly festival” sponsored by a Christian company in Jamaica, Gospel artist Kirk Franklin said he had “a lot to express.” But his mode of onstage expression led to criticism from attendees—and even a callout from the company’s CEO.
On April 20, Franklin performed at Fun in the Son, an annual Christian concert held at National Stadium in Kingston. In video posted to social media, the 54-year-old gyrates to “Hosanna Forever We Worship You” while wearing a tank top and tight shorts.
Some attendees walked out of Franklin’s performance, which has received unfavorable feedback online this week.
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Sponsor of Gospel Festival ‘Expected More’ of Kirk Franklin
Fun in the Son is sponsored by Best Dressed Chicken, a Jamaica Broilers Group (JBG) brand. TobyMac and other Christian artists also performed at this year’s festival, which was billed as a celebration of 65 years of “God’s faithfulness.”
Afterward, JBG president and CEO Christopher Levy said the company “expected more” from Franklin. “When we engage an artist, it is with a degree of trust that the artist will be aware and sensitive to their audience,” said Levy. “We are cognizant that each of us are working through our relationship with the Lord, and we prayerfully support [Franklin’s] growth.”
The day before the festival, Franklin noted it had been 10 years since he last performed at Fun in the Son. At an April 19 press conference, the award-winning choir director said he was “humbled” and “honored” to be invited back and wanted to “show the level of gratitude that I have by how I present…on stage.”
Franklin added that he had “a lot of life experiences and emotion and energy and passion that I’m going to bring to the stage that’s been bottled up for the last decade.”
But the way Franklin released all that passion led to negative reviews. “He was dancing like I was in an Usher, Michael Jackson, and Chris Brown concert,” someone wrote online. Another person commented, “He acting like he at Diddy house,” referring to the ongoing sex-trafficking investigation of musician Sean “Diddy” Combs.
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