The viral video of Kirk Franklin rocking a tank top and denim shorts during a performance in Jamaica is still stirring up reactions—and the gospel icon is finally addressing the chatter.
During a recent appearance on Angie Martinez’s IRL podcast, Franklin brought up the outfit that caused a stir last year when he performed in Kingston. The 22-time Grammy winner caught backlash from some in the church community for his dance moves, which many felt were a bit too suggestive.
Adding fuel to the fire was another clip that surfaced around the same time, showing Franklin jokingly “twerking” on gospel legend Jacky Clark Chisholm. He’s since apologized for both incidents.
“I had to go to Jamaica last year,” Franklin told Martinez. “And I had some shorts on and a tank top, and I got ridiculed.”
He shut down claims that he wore “booty shorts,” playfully pushing back when Martinez referred to them as “hoochie daddy shorts.”
“It was just a regular look that I had on,” Franklin said. “I had some Travis Scotts on and I was doing a concert.”
Franklin shared that the constant buzz around his outfit became “fatiguing,” pointing to the way social media gives everyone a platform to judge.
“It’s the necessary capital E word [evil] that you know we all are trying to maneuver with because it does a lot of good,” he said, while also calling out those who he feels are “weaponizing Christianity.”
He went on to say, “Humans, if not surrendered and not accountable, we have capacities—some of us—to be evil. So it’s not social media that’s evil, it’s the individuals whose hearts are not pure and healed and whole and surrendered that use it as a tool of evil.”
At the 2025 BET Awards, host Kevin Hart couldn’t resist poking fun at Kirk Franklin’s viral moments. While introducing the gospel star for his Ultimate Icon Award, Hart joked around the 6:45 mark, “He be trying to blame it on the Lord. The Lord didn’t ask for that.”
He playfully warned Franklin not to break into a twerk during his acceptance speech, keeping the crowd laughing.
