Kierra Sheard defends Kirk Franklin after ‘shallow’ critics slam gospel artist for ‘exposing cheeks’ during performance

Kierra Sheard defends fellow gospel artist Kirk Franklin for his controversial clothing alternative in a recent video.

The “Something Has To Break” singer made no secret of his support for Franklin after fans criticized him for letting his pants fall down during a recent performance at a mentoring event for young men.

During the interview With Speaking to The Neighborhood Talk on the 2024 Stellar Awards, Sheard expressed her opinion on whether gospel artists are held to strict standards in relation to their image.

“I think the world can be hard on us, but that comes with the Cross,” she said. “I love Uncle Kirk. I think we can’t let a wardrobe moment change our views of who he was to us.”

Sheard continued to debate her relationship with Franklin, suggesting that the main focus ought to be on his character, not his clothes.

“I called Uncle Kirk and said, ‘Uncle Kirk, I have a question and I need a mentoring moment,’ and he poured his words out on me. So if we’re so shallow that our wardrobe speaks to who we are in our hearts and minds, I think that says something about the person who’s judging us.”

It’s unclear where or when it happened, but Franklin, 54, was wearing a white Saint Laurent shirt with a red and blue pattern on the time, together with denim shorts, Nike sneakers and matching socks. In the video, Franklin is on stage doing what he does best, bringing the gang along to certainly one of his thumping gospel songs called “Bless Me.”

As he encouraged moms to depart the audience and approach the stage, the audience could see his shirt just above his hips. This, combined along with his pants falling down barely on the back, exposed his underwear and caused a commotion among the many fans.

Someone said, “Say what you will, but it’s about decorum. Kirk knows better…sometimes he does too much as a Christian.”

Another suggested that Franklin wore the outfit to look relatable to his audience, which appeared to be a combination of young black men and older women. A second critic said, “Why do I see his underwear? The shirt is tight, okay, whatever, but I see Kirk Franklin’s underwear 👀 It’s never been more obvious to me to appeal to the youth than now.”

Of course, there have been fans who shared the feelings of the 37-year-old Sheard, a few of whom even argued that the outfit wasn’t an enormous deal and could possibly be solved with one minor change.

“All he needed was a belt lol, damn,” wrote one fan defending his name.

Franklin has not responded to the commotion and certain won’t because he has more necessary things to fret about.

In lower than a month, she is going to embark on The Reunion Tour with fellow gospel artists Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp, Yolanda Adams and The Clark Sister, with Kierra Sheard herself as a special guest.

The first stop will likely be in Philadelphia on September sixth.