Broadcast journalist and talk show host Tamron Hall spoke with Kirk Franklin on Wednesday in his first interview since audio of a heated phone call with estranged son was leaked on social media.

Kirk Franklin along with wife, Tammy Franklin, spoke with Hall via Skype to discuss the ongoing situation regarding Franklin’s son, 32-year-old Kerrion Franklin.

This past Saturday, Kerrion posted a recorded snippet of a phone call between him and his father, in which you could hear both men in a heated argument with derogatory words and slurs used repeatedly.

The video footage containing the recorded snippet soon went viral after being posted.

Kirk Franklin, the 16-time Grammy award winning gospel artist, has since then issued a public apology via his Instagram page after getting backlash for the things that were said in the viral recording.

In the current age of social media, its quite common to take a piece of information provided and form personal opinions without knowing full context or details, which Kirk Franklin hoped to clarify in his recent interview.

Franklin spoke with Hall about always having a rocky relationship with his eldest son, mentioning that as his son became a man, his “disrespect became more aggressive”.

He talked about starting personal and familial counseling and therapy when his son was a teenager, lasting off-and-on for over 20 years.

“He’s my son. He’s my son and my first born, and I never want him to feel what I felt not having a father” is what Franklin said when discussing his strained relationship with his son.

Tammy Franklin, wife of Kirk Franklin, told Hall that she was not part of this particular conversation, but describes the situation as an ongoing ordeal.

“It has been a very hard and difficult situation with our family for years.”

She then explained that during phone calls between the father and son, someone else has to be present on the call to act as a buffer because their relationship has become that “combustible”.

Social media immediately went into a frenzy and began taking sides on who was right or wrong in this situation, and in response to this, Tammy Franklin said, “There is no ‘side’ to this. This is ‘news’ for everyone but this is something we’ve been dealing with for years, for all of our marriage, for 25 years, and when this is no longer news for everyone, we’re still a family.”

In his closing remarks, Kirk Franklin asked for the continued prayer for himself and his family.

“I’m gonna keep trying, while I’m still continuing to admit that I am an imperfect man, fighting to serve a perfect God.”

The Tamron Hall Show has reached out to Kerrion Franklin for comment and has gotten no response.

Photo Credit: Erika Goldring/WireImage.com