Most Viewed Moments of 2022 | KARAMO

As we say goodbye to 2022 and welcome 2023, I want to share with you the top 5 YouTube videos of 2022. And I also want to say thanks to all my fans and followers for making first season on Karamo a huge success and helping me reach over 100,000 YouTube subscribers in just over 1 month. That's all y'all, and I appreciate y'all so much. So are you ready for the countdown? All right, let's get this started. All right, so coming in at number 5 is Gangs, Guns, and a Life of Violence. A desperate mother cries out for help to save her troubled teens. Ronisha is beside herself and claims that her daughter Janaria has been nothing but trouble ever since the pandemic. And making matters worse, Ronisha fears that Janaria has been influencing her brother Tahaji down a similar path. Let's take a look. According to Ronisha, her kids have grown up into troubled teens who are smoking weed, fighting at school, getting expelled, and facing armed robbery charges. Take a look at Ronesha's story. I wanna talk to you first of all about the police. Why did you have to call the police on your daughter?

[Speaker] The reason why I called the police on her is because as we see, she did try to fight me. It was like about 2 months ago. She had friends over that night and I had to work the next day. So I was like, you know, in the morning I woke up 'cause they was up all night. So I woke up in the morning like, you know, I need to go to work, so please keep it down. She was like, okay. And I'm like, Janaria, you don't have to say that, you could just be quiet. You have friends here, outta respect, just say all right. She's like, okay, okay, sass me. So I have this little stick that I kinda like scare 'em with, 'cause they bigger than me or whatever, so I kinda bring it out. So I'm starting to pop her with the stick and she backing up and then she just start kicking her feet on me. So I'm like, okay, okay, that's how you wanna be? And then it was getting real heated with me and her.

Yeah, escalated quick, I get that.

Right, it start escalating real fast. So we calmed down or whatever, you know? So I was like calling her probation officer 'cause she was on probation at the time with a house arrest band. So I'm calling her probation officer.

And let me get this straight, how old is she?

She's 16.

16?

Yes.

She's already on probation.

Mm-hmm.

She's already in these states where she's angry all the time.

Right.

So once you called her probation officer, what happened?

No one answered it. So I'm like, wow, I called the man who runs the house arrest band 'cause she was on house arrest as well. Nobody answered it. So that's what made me call the police itself. I'm like, well, you know, my daughter, she's fighting me or whatever, they came out and I explained to them what happened. She was still acting her sassy ways, 'cause I'm a parent, I wouldn't wanna call the police on my kid. I love her, so why would I wanna do that? But to teach a person a lesson, you have to take an extra step.

Was there ever a time when you and Jay were the best of friends, had a good time?

3 or 4, when she was more little and I had more control over it, we were more tighter as a family. We used to do our Sundays and our prayer circles and those type of ways. That's what kept us tight, but then as she got older, As the pandemic was over, it was like new friends, new environments, and that's when she picked up all of that.

Got it. Well, so when CPS got called, what did they do?

She was with CPS. When they took her, they took her to the little shelter. So true the way her attitude is, she didn't comply good to go to the next steps, which is the group home where she can get visits. So she had to stay there about 2 weeks before she started actually answering their questions.

She was 2 weeks in a shelter? Yeah. So what was it like when Janaria came back home?

So she do just enough for me to have to get on the phone and call.

So before this fight, when you called the police, I know she had a run-in with the police before then. Yes. Can you tell me about that?

So the first time I got a call, they was like, this Detective Woo, we're calling about Janaria. We had her at the train station. She was having, beating up an older guy at the train station. So I'm at work. I had to leave work because she's having a fight with an older man at the train station. So when I leave work, they say pick her up. I go pick her up. She, you know, Kids always say something different besides what the next person say. So that was the first thing. So now I'm at work again, I say about 3 weeks later. We have your daughter Janaria, I don't even know if she's telling the truth because she's telling so much. He was like, but she got caught with a gun, that's GTA, Grand Theft Auto. So it was armed robbery, Grand Theft Auto. They said she was robbing on the north side and got caught on the south side.

Was that her gun? Where did she say she got it from?

I don't know where she got it from.

She never told you?

No, because when I asked her, she said it wasn't hers.

So because she was a minor, she didn't go to jail?

She went to jail, but they gave her house arrest and called me to pick her up. Don't get me wrong, she's a real smart girl, so that's why I'm really here, 'cause I don't want her to go down that path. She have a couple more years in life, and let me be the one to help her, you know what I'm saying?

I wanna know, how worried are you about her as a mother?

I can't even sleep until they come in the house. I don't wanna get a phone call When they be like, "Janaria's dead." I love these kids, that's why I'm here, for real. I really wanna get them some help. And I wanna let, you know, I want people out there to know that I'm the parent of them. I don't approve of none of that that they're doing, you know what I'm saying? People probably think like, "Oh, these kids, where the mama?" I'm the mama of these kids and I don't approve of those things that they out there doing.

So I wanna talk to you, Jay. I know your mom called the police on you. What's going on? What happened?

We got into an altercation and then she came there again with the broom, the little stick. And then she was, I don't know.

That got you when she came with the stick?

Yeah.

I wasn't like trying to hit her for real, but I was trying to block myself so I put my feet up.

Okay. What was it like for you being in the group home?

Normal.

Normal. Were you wondering why you couldn't be home?

No, I knew why I couldn't be home.

Okay, and from your perspective, why couldn't you be home?

'Cause the altercation we had and my behavior. Mm-hmm.

What are you thinking about, Ronisha?

No, it's just funny 'cause this what I gotta deal with when nobody never thinks they're in the wrong or don't know where to man up and say, well yeah, this is what I do and this is what I'm doing. It could get better. But if you always sit and say, "I don't know," and you don't know, it's gonna make it hard for us to get you the help that is needed.

Renisha, would you be okay with me talking to Jay alone?

Yeah, sure, without a problem.

Yeah, if you could just step backstage for me.

All right.

Okay, so we gonna have a real conversation. So I wanna know how you really feel about your mom not bringing you home sooner.

It's normal.

You can play tough right now for me. You can play tough and like, "I don't care." I'm chillin', normal. And I'm chillin', I feel normal. There's no way a young 16-year-old felt okay being in a group home. I've worked with many kids.

No, Mr. Karamo.

What's going on with you right now? Why do you think that you're getting into these situations?

I don't know.

You don't know?

Getting in what situations?

You've been with the police twice. You were on house arrest. You got caught up with a robbery charge.

'Cause I got caught.

I know you got caught, but why were you doing it in the first place? So I know that on social media you've been posting photos of you with guns.

Wow.

Where are you getting the guns from?

Mm-hmm.

So you're not gonna share that?

Mm-mm.

I understand that. So then why are you posting them knowing that you could get in trouble?

Not really.

You don't think you're getting in trouble from that?

No.

You can.

How?

Well, if the guns are not, registered and you're posting guns or soliciting, first of all, Instagram or any social media platform will take your account down. But then somebody could say you harassed them or hurt them with that.

If you put props, they can't 'cause it's a prop.

So they're not real guns?

On Instagram, they're not real.

Let's not forget you're a minor, so it's illegal. Are you in a gang? I already know the answer's yes. And how were you initiated? Were you jumped in? And was that a fun moment for you to be jumped in by dudes into a gang?

I mean, it's not like, fun moment? What you mean by that?

I can't imagine someone saying to me to join they club or to hang out with them, they gotta beat me up. I just would be like. So I'm saying something in your mind must have thought like this is okay. So I wanted to ask you point blank, was that a fun moment for you?

I mean, I guess it wasn't a bad moment.

It wasn't bad.

No. Okay.

Do you think that your actions are helping or hurting your brother?

He don't gotta follow me. He knows right from wrong himself.

Do you know right from wrong?

Yes.

You do? Do you think guns is right or wrong?

Right in some cases.

I wanna figure out how to get to you and figure out what's going on. And I see there's still a block here. So I wanna invite your little brother out. Tajae, how old are you? 15?

15, yeah.

How's everything going? You look smooth. Yeah. Ah, thank you. You're welcome. So I wanna ask you really quickly, you see the things that Jay's doing, how you feel about that?

I mean, it's like, I be knowing this be like bad, but like it's be the things that she be doing. It's like what we grew up, doing type stuff.

Yeah.

So are you scared for your sister's life?

Yeah, but I'm scared for like everybody life around us because like it's bad where we live at.

Yeah.

My mindset, I'll be thinking like somebody finna drive and just start shooting at me for no reason.

Are you scared that one day Jay could end up dead?

Yeah, but that's with both of us.

Yeah, like with everybody, but But don't you believe that even though the circumstances, 'cause I grew up in the hood, like it's just 'cause you're in the circumstances, if you're trying to do things right, if you're trying, there's a way that you can make it. But if you're posting guns, if you're in a gang, that leads you down a path that's like even easier to get you caught up. You're not holding guns, right?

Hmm?

Are you holding guns?

Not right now.

Not right now. Jay, do you love your brother?

Yes.

With all your heart?

Mm-hmm.

Do you wanna see your brother caught up?

No.

So then how do you feel about the fact that you hear that he's saying that he's carrying guns and all that now?

I don't know.

I'm trying to figure out how I can help you both, but like there's a block here and I don't know what it is that y'all not telling me. Like because I see two smart young Black folks and I don't understand what's happening right now. Why y'all are both like, you know what, forget it. I asked your sister this question. How long do you see yourself living to?

A long time. I don't see myself like passing anytime soon.

Good. Good, that's good. Where's y'all's father at, do you know?

Jamaica.

Jamaica.

Yeah.

Okay. Are y'all close with him?

Yeah, we kind of close with him too.

Okay. And what does he feel about how y'all act?

He said he mad that I got caught up.

Yeah, and what do you say to that? You just smile and laugh it off?

Yeah, I just laugh.

Okay, so your father wrote me a letter that he wanted me to give to y'all. Can someone bring that letter out? Y'all knew that he did this?

No.

I haven't read it either yet, so we'll read it together. Jay, I want you to stop what you're doing. Please listen to your mom. I know you are a talented little girl. You can run, play basketball, Please do the right thing for your mom. Stop following those friends. You know that your mother and father love you. If you're right or wrong, we love you and we're 100% behind you. Tahaji, be good. I love you and you know that. How do y'all feel about that?

He know we love him. We be talking to him every day.

All right, we're gonna bring your mother back out. I need some perspective here 'cause I really thought that if I talked to them, they would come around. Kind of open up to me. They're both very casual. Like, I got guns. Yeah, we fighting. Where did this casual behavior start from?

That's the problem right there that I'm having. So I moved them from the hood where we grew up at to a better place, as I would thought. But it seemed like when they got there, they just turned it to the hood. Yes, I know when you go to different places, they have those type of kids there. But if you involve yourself with them, that's where you get involved in it.

So why are you involving yourself with those kids? Why are you involving yourself?

I take y'all out together.

Look at your mother.

I took y'all from the hood, so I'm not understanding where y'all saying that y'all in the hood and in this environment. If that's the case, I would've left us in the hood.

Why did you run away?

'Cause I didn't wanna be there.

Do you know why your sister left home?

She didn't wanna be there.

Why?

She was probably getting tired of my mama just yelling and—

Do you understand why your mother yells though?

Yeah, sometimes, yeah.

Is there some other reason you want to leave? Do you just, are you really wanna be grown and on your own that much? Do you know how hard it is to be on your own and grown? Why? Tell him, tell him. Do you know? Have you ever had to pay a bill?

Nope.

The rent.

Have you ever had to keep a job to survive?

Nope.

So right now everything just seems very easy because you get to go hang out with your friends. You have these cool-ass shoes on, you got these nice jeans. I almost know the person who provided that is right there.

Not everything. I just got a mom, that's it.

Y'all have a mother that loves you. Do y'all know how lucky you are? Yeah. Talk to your mom because I see for you, I see that you are not in this space where you actually want to go down this path. I really feel it in my heart.

He in the middle.

We gotta stay together. What do you wanna do with your life? What do you wanna do?

I ain't gonna lie, I don't know, but like, I wanna have a good life, but I don't know what I wanna do yet.

But do you believe you can get a better life?

Yeah, I'm already knowing I'm gonna have a good life when I get older. Like, I already see myself having a good job, good family.

Good, that's good.

Good, but do you think that you gonna get there? You too, Karamo. Do you think you gonna get there by doing any of these things? Like fighting, keeping up with your sister, do you think you gonna get there?

But it's not like the fighting, it wasn't even, It's really that big of a deal.

It is.

It is.

To you in this moment, it doesn't feel like a big of a deal because you feel like you're defending yourself. But one fight could cause you to end up going to jail, could cause you to end up— We live in a world right now, we done seen it on social media, we Black folks. It takes one cop who's hardheaded and hotheaded to come and shoot you in the middle of the street. And all of a sudden, all of us got your name on our t-shirts. Mm-hmm. We've seen this before.

Mm-hmm.

I don't ever wanna be wearing a t-shirt with y'all names on it. Your mother is pleading for you to not go down there, to not die. I feel like you have a pretty good grip on your house, so I'm proud of you. Good job. You just listen. You're doing the best you can. Thank you. And you got a young soldier here in the middle who is ready to help, who's ready to, who's stuck in the middle but is ready to step up and do what's right. I think you need some help. You need somebody who you can talk to about what you're feeling, about what you're expressing. So you're angry about something. I don't know what it is that you're angry about. But we gotta figure out where that anger's coming from because you got a bright future. And I promise you, if you really wanna be in WNBA, I will help you get there. I will personally help you get there. But in return, I'm gonna ask you if you'd be willing to talk to somebody about what you're feeling.

Mm-hmm.

You are?

Mm-hmm.

Thank you. Yes, baby, that's all I wanna hear.

Whatever is holding you back, whatever is making you angry inside, we gotta release that anger. And I promise you, the lightness that will come to you, the life that will open up to you will be so much better. You shouldn't be getting jumped in the gang. You shouldn't be going through any of this. You should be doing exactly what you love, playing basketball and watching your future soar. All right?

Yes.

I know Janaria and her brother Tahaji have bright futures and Jenneria recently made the basketball team, and I'm cheering for that. All right, now coming in at number 4 was a difficult show for both the mother and daughter. The entire family was hurting, and I could tell that they were all screaming out for help. Anita had just lost her husband James, and she blamed her 4 daughters for his death. This clip is entitled Mom, Stop Blaming Us for Dad's Death. Let's watch. All right, our guest Anita suffered a heartbreaking loss just 2 months ago when her husband James passed away. But an already devastating situation turned unbearable when Anita's daughters blamed her for their father's death. And Anita says one person is responsible for losing the love of her life. She blames her daughter Brittany. There is so much to unpack here. Everyone, please welcome Anita to the show. So first of all, Anita, I have to say I'm so sorry. I know it's been 2 months since you lost your husband. I'm really sorry about that. How have you been holding up? I ain't. You're not?

I just stay in my room, in my bed, and look at a picture where I talked to him like that, and now, and it's just sad, lonely.

Tell me about your husband, James.

Beautiful man. I loved him. He was the world.

He was? Yes. Y'all had a great relationship?

A beautiful relationship.

So, I like that I got a smile out of you when you talk about—

I love talking about it.

But there was something that my producers told me, that you blame your daughter Brittany for your husband's—

Yeah, because she said that we was all in the living room, we was in there, just talking and stuff and he was just laying in the bed. And she said that she could have, you know, kind of like helped him, saved him or something because she could have gave him the oxygen, put the oxygen machine on him, but she left and she didn't do that. And that's the only thing that kind of like hurt me on that part.

She should've. So your husband was needing oxygen? He was on an oxygen tank?

No, he wasn't on it. They had brought one to the house in case he needed it.

Oh, got it. And so you're saying that you all were in the living room, he needed it in that moment.

She said when she was in the restaurant in the room where he was that he needed, she said felt like he needed it. She said, "Dad, I'm finna get you oxygen." But she left out the door, she didn't give it to him. And when I went and used the restroom, it's like he kinda like gasped for air, but when I said, "James Hudson," he didn't respond to me, so I jumped and got in the bed with him, put my hand to his nose, felt his stomach, then nothing. But she was gone already, but then I had to call and let her know, "Your daddy gone." So I feel like you could've helped me, you could've saved him, If it wasn't your time to save him, you know, you could have been.

Got it. Okay. So how has James' passing affected your relationship with your kids?

Terrible. They loved their daddy more than they loved me. They didn't love me. They don't love me the way they love him. Oh wow. Because it's whatever he say, it went with them. But now I can say something, it don't go. It's a whole different story.

So what are you here today for?

I'm here to get some help to save my family with them. I wanna save us. Yes.

You do wanna save your family?

Yeah.

You do wanna save it? So you don't like this dysfunction that you're in?

No, I do not.

Yeah, okay. Well, I wanna go ahead and meet one of your daughters. I wanna meet Sabrina. Everyone, please welcome Sabrina to the show.

How you doing?

I'm fine, how are you?

Good. What should I say? I know it's been hard for you 'cause you just lost your father 2 months ago. Sabrina, were you close with your father before he passed away?

Yes.

How close?

Very. We talked, we— I can ride by the house in the mornings, he's up on the porch. He's able to talk to without judging you. He'll give you good advice on what you need. My daddy been there. He's always been a father.

Yeah. But do you think that your mother is great as well? You know, I think you told my producers that she's such a giving person.

She does, she gives to Jamie and Bebe sometimes whenever they need. Only when they borrow my money and they don't wanna pay back and I want my money back.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But your daughter's saying they're giving, you know what I mean? I know you're, I hear your point of view, but your daughter's saying you're giving. Your mother's a giving person?

Yeah.

Yeah. So even though you love your father, you also see the good in your mother?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I always help. Before my daddy passed, like he always said, Sabrina, no matter what Sabrina needed or what they needed, No matter if I had to go to work or whatever, I was always come through them. He told everybody that in the family. So sometimes I don't feel like she see it though.

Yeah, okay. Do you wanna heal your family? Is that why you're here?

Yeah, 'cause that's what my daddy said before he passed. He said he want everybody to be together 'cause at the end of the day, all you have is your family.

Well, I wanna bring Jamie to the show right now because I'm trying to figure out why there's this issue. Jamie, come on out. She evil.

She evil.

You said Jamie's evil?

She evil. She's very evil.

JB, welcome to the show.

How you doing?

I'm good. Your mother just said that she thinks you're evil. How does it make you feel to hear that?

I'm not evil, she evil. Like, it's, it don't feel, I don't wanna cry. Hold on, tissue.

Need a tissue? I don't even hear you. How did it feel to hear that voicemail from your mother?

Okay, since I hear this all the time, I just laughed at it. Like.

You hear this type of language all the time?

I hear it all the time, every day.

Why do you laugh when your daughters tell you this? Why do you think it's funny?

'Cause they funny.

Why? Girl. Jamie, do you think your mother's behavior got worse after your father left?

I don't like that. Yes, it got real bad.

In what ways?

She used to sit on the couch and mind her business and if we get on her nerves, then she'll act up. But otherwise than that, as soon as we walk through the door, "Get out." "Get out." God, they evil. Mama, we not evil.

Is this a nervous smile?

Nah, it's about to make me go off smile.

All right, so your other daughter Crystal's in the audience. Crystal, how does it feel to see your sisters fighting like this with your mom?

Well, it makes me like, sit down. She don't care about nothing. She put on this act. Look, you see how I'm acting? She put on this act as if she want a relationship with us. She don't want a relationship with us. You see, you trying to make stuff better than it's not. Mama, don't do that. Sit down.

What, what, what, what?

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Why are you telling her to sit down? I asked her a question. That was me that asked her. Why are you mad at her for standing? Standing up?

'Cause she gonna talk about me. 'Cause she don't like to hear the truth. And when the truth come to her, she don't wanna hear it.

Your daughter's crying.

She always crying.

How are your daughters evil? I just want you to tell me, 'cause you keep saying they're evil. How are they evil?

They is.

Can you explain that to me?

'Cause they always got something against me. They say something bad against me. Mama, I'm honest. I can tell you. I said I don't wanna come up, bring her on the show to make her look bad. I really wanna work this, like make it work. I didn't wanna come here and bash you. I didn't want the audience to be like, "Oh, she a bad person." No, you making yourself look bad. You telling—

I am what I am and be what I am.

No, you're not, because you told somebody that you know that you pushing us away. Yeah, like you know. And I told you, if you know that you pushing us away, why continue to do it? And you our only parent we got left. Like, why would you do that?

Everyone, can we please welcome Brittany to the show? I think it's important to have all your daughters out.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, I want.

She definitely should've went. Hi Brittany, welcome to the show.

Hi.

So how does it feel to hear your mom say that you're the reason for your father's death?

It hurts. It hurts so bad. But that's who she is. She blame everybody but herself. Ain't got nothing to blame myself for. You left a bad message for Bibi too when you went. You bet you was the one for his death. Bibi was at her house crying. Like, my mama, like, you can't keep doing him like that. You can't blame that girl for my daddy's death. And I called her and I was like, Mama, what you do to Bibi? She was like, don't be calling me taking up for nobody. This is my sister and you my mama. I'm asking y'all what's going on. You let somebody else call your phone and tell you a lie. Like, did nobody say that you was dead? We don't want you dead. We want you to work. Every time I get paid, I take you out, don't I? Yeah.

No.

Every time I get mad, I take you out there, you don't know. No. I always, what you do? You don't show nothing, you don't care. You don't care, Mommy, you don't. You wanna be lonely, do you? Do you wanna be lonely? Yeah, see. You don't want us around, do you? No.

Brittany, you received a message from your mother that said she felt like you were the reason your father died.

No, I was in her face.

She was in her face.

She was in her face. We was in her house.

What was that like for you?

It broke me down. My sister had to come and sit in front of me just because. And she was steady saying like, "It's your fault." And she was shaking her head like she doing now, laughing and shaking her head and saying, "It's your fault." I'm crying. I'm telling her, "Mom, it's not." Like, I already blamed myself because I walked in that room. I heard my daddy breathing like that. She said, "I heard him breathing like that all day. He been like that all day." I said, "Okay, well, Mama." I went back in the room. I said, "Dad, I'll be right back. I love you and I'll be right back." He gave me, he said, like this and I was like, okay, I'll be right back. I didn't come back straight back like I wanted to. I stayed with my kids and she called me like about 10 minutes later and say, he gone.

So you weren't even able to talk about your feelings in the moment because your mother immediately started to accuse you?

No, she waited. It took a minute. I'm coming to her house all day, every day.

And then one day he started.

And then that day, She just said it like, and I don't feel like that's right. I told her it's not right for you to blame me and I blame myself. That hurt me to the core. Like I can't stop thinking about that. That was on my mind all the time. It was. Like every day.

Yeah.

But we also gotta get something clear too. My daddy knew he was dying. Somebody gotta stop blaming the other parents. People like the other parents. Nobody killed him. Nobody killed him.

Anita. When you came on the show, you first said you wanna save your family, and then I saw an immediate switch as your daughters started walking out one by one. What was the switch?

Them. She act like a child. She wanna be a child.

One more thing, I'm gonna come over there and beat you. What was the switch? Why did you all of a sudden, you said you're gonna save them.

I don't like 'em. Girl, bye. Well, get off the stage. You ain't left yet. I'm not leaving the stage. Well, don't holler about it.

You miss your husband.

That's the only thing I miss.

Okay, listen, I can see what's going on here. And the first thing is you are all grieving and you have not had any time to grieve what has happened. You have lost your husband and your best friend. You have lost your father. I was taking notes as you were talking and I was realizing that, okay, she's pushing them away. She's doing things and you kept saying, They love their father more. I wanted all of y'all, can one by one, can you tell your mother you love her?

I love you, Mama. I love you, Mama. It's hard right now.

I know it's hard right now.

But I do love her.

Do you love your mother?

Yeah, I love her to death.

Your children love you. When your husband died, the love didn't die with him. The love is still here.

Well, I feel like it is.

I know you do. I know you're grieving and you are hurting right now, but these hurtful words you're saying to your children is not gonna bring your husband back.

I know that.

Would your husband want to see y'all fighting on this stage right now?

No.

You're creating a narrative in your mind that's not true. It's not true. You are loved. You just said something right right there. Don't push your daughters away You are loved and you deserve to be loved. You deserve to be loved and you deserve to grieve. You gotta receive it right now. Your family loves you and it's still here. Your daughters love you. The love did not die with your husband.

Yes, it did.

It did not. It didn't. It did not. You don't have to use hurtful words and turn your back because you think the love is gone.

Gone.

The love is still here. Can you look at your daughters? You brought these women into this world. Look at them. They love you. Look at your daughters. Hey, girl. Look at your daughters. They love you. For just one second. They're happy.

She look like she mad down there. She mumbling over here. You say something. And she crying.

'Cause they're grieving. They're grieving. They're allowed to have feelings just the way you are, but that does not take away from their love for you.

I don't know about that.

When your mother starts saying hurtful things to you, I want your only response to be, "Daddy loved you and I love you too." But she used to treat him bad as well, right? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Because what's gonna happen is you're going tit for tat. Y'all are going tit for tat right now when y'all are all grieving. The man that showed y'all all unconditional love is gone. And so now it's like, well, you did wrong, you did wrong, it's your fault, it's your fault. It's none of your fault that he passed away.

I don't blame myself.

None of your fault. I know you don't fully believe it. Your mother loves you.

I know she do.

Come sit with your sisters. You don't need to be in the audience. Come sit with your sisters.

You might better stay outside.

You're 22 and I know.

I'm only 23 years old. You gotta understand, from the time I was a kid, I've been getting cussed out. I've been getting called B words, all this. When I ask her for anything, she'll tell me no. If I ask my daddy, she cussing me out, telling him, "Don't give that bitch nothing. Don't give her nothing." It's always been like that. Nobody wants to grow up like that.

I know, you didn't deserve it either. You didn't deserve it.

We come around you like we bring you nothing but happiness and joy. Well, you say we don't. They don't.

We do.

And the minute she start yelling at us, all she do is smile and laugh. Like, are you getting happy from our pain?

She's not. She's not.

Cry now.

You gotta stop with the hurtful words. Listen, your mother just said something hurtful. This is gonna take deeper work than this moment. I'm gonna just be honest with y'all. This is more than— this is just more like y'all know this is my life's passion is helping people. People and I can't try to pretend I can fix this in 20 minutes. I can't. This is deeper, especially you.

I won't be involved with none of them.

Yes, you will.

Not at the debate.

Yes, you will. No, I won't. Yes, you will.

No, I won't. You will be back in my house tonight somewhere.

Listen everyone, listen everyone at home. You just can't fix it in a moment and that's what we're seeing right now. We're seeing grief and we're seeing pain and I promise you and I vow I'm gonna try to work with you all to help you through this, but we cannot do this right now. Sometimes things just don't have a happy resolution.

You won't be back after today, not in my house.

You better not even touch her.

Girl, I'll take your braid out your hand. You better not touch me. Mama, don't do it. I'll take your braid out your hand.

Listen, I'm sorry y'all going through this. Get outta here. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Listen, I'm sending Anita and her daughters love and light and hope this family will heal in 2023. Coming at number 3 is confronting my bully, my own mother. Brandon was tormented for being gay growing up. Recently, he reached out to me for help confronting his childhood bully, which was his own mother Shirley. They hadn't seen each other in 7 years and reunited on my show to address past trauma with Shirley. Let's watch the 3rd most watched clip on my YouTube channel. When you hear someone else's story, you learn empathy. You educate yourself on their experience. My first guest's story is very shocking. Brandon reached out to the show for help with confronting his childhood bully, his mother Shirley. It's been 7 years since Brandon has last saw Shirley, and this will be the first time he addresses his past with her. Please everyone, welcome Brandon to the show. How you doing?

Good, you?

I'm good.

You look great.

Thank you, thank you.

So now y'all see why I had to come sharp today. Brandon said, I'm not playing with you. How's it going?

Good, you?

I'm really good. So this was shocking to me when I read this, that you said you're facing your bully and it being your mother. Yes. Tell me about your experience.

Wow. So my mother has always been, you know, who she is, you know. I was bullied a lot as a child for being different. And when I say different, I mean being gay.

Yeah.

I'm child number 4 outta 8 and I am the second boy. So you can only imagine like the pressure it is to be a Black male in the South, raised in North Carolina. I remember when I was 13, almost 14, I was in 8th grade. We got into a huge fight.

Yeah.

And you know, I remember she like just punched me dead in my chest. And you know, she said something to the effect of, "I wish I had an abortion or I wish I didn't have you." Right? And those words stick with me to this day. And so when I hold myself to such a high standard that whenever I don't feel like I'm meeting my own expectations, I'm so down on myself and that fight sticks to my head so vividly. And I remember—

'Cause she made you feel like you weren't enough.

Like I was scum. Like I was like nothing.

So did Shirley raise you?

Until I was 13, 14 years old. So we were with my grandmother on and off.

Okay.

So Shirley was in and outta the picture. And then when I was almost 14 years old, you know, Shirley went to rehab and you know, in North Carolina how they do it is, you know, your kids go to siblings or someone else should go. And I remember sitting in that room and no one in my family wanted to take me. Like I had nowhere to go.

Yeah.

And I remember like it was end of 8th grade. I remember talking to my friend and I was like, hey, like, I might be leaving. She was like, what do you mean? I was like, well, if I can't find somewhere to go, I might go to group home or foster care. And then her mom was like, I'll take him.

Wow, that's big.

Right? And school came around and 14, 15-year-old me starting high school and Shirley was nowhere to be found. We couldn't find her. And in North Carolina, you have to have parent consent to do any sports or anything. And Shirley came and signed over her kinship to my neighbor and that was that.

Wow, okay.

I danced a lot of my troubles away. Like I found myself in the arts and she missed, I was in a Nutcracker for 4 years. Nice. Look, there's me, cheer.

You were a cheerleader as well?

Yes.

Yeah.

I cheered in high school. I was the first male cheerleader at my high school.

Nice, breaking records.

That's my college graduation. I'm the first one outta 8 to graduate from college.

Good job. Yeah.

And I did that by myself. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

She missed out on a lot, but I'm ready to close that chapter in my life and get closure. So I'm like seeking your help today to help me, you know, get closure, you know, close that chapter and maybe hopefully open a new chapter with Shirley. Maybe, maybe not. But I would love for your help just to address that.

Well, I'm here to help you. So everyone, Welcome Shirley to the show. Hey, how you doing? I'm fine. So I just wanna let you know, I'm not here to judge you. I want to hear your side of the story as well, honestly, because I heard what your son had to say and I want to hear from you what was going on during those times that you two weren't together.

And this me signing him away? I didn't never sign him away. To nobody.

Shirley.

And this is not what I came out here to do. He is not gonna bash me.

I'm not bashing you.

This is when he said I punched him in the chest 'cause he thought he was man enough or big enough to fight me. Ain't nothing that came out of me gonna see him jump on me and think they man enough to whoop my ass. Uh-uh. I ain't it.

Okay, let's talk about facts if you want.

Let's talk about facts.

I ain't it. How did I go all the way through school without parent's signature? You were supposed to come back and get me.

That ain't it.

I got receipts, Shirley. You literally cannot sit here and say like you did not sign up for kinship. I got paperwork.

You let— That day when you jumped on me and I tore your ass up.

This is literally—

And me bullying you? No, I told you like this, I knew what you was when you was 3 years old. I knew you were gay. And I told you, be what you are and be the best that you are 'cause you always half of me.

Period.

So sure.

Okay, but why did that not translate to actions, right? Why were you never in my corner backing me up? Why were you never cheering for me? How come I went through my entire—

Just like when that boy tried to whoop your ass and I told you better tear his up, I was gonna whoop your one, period. I never sat here and I had your corner.

Describe from your own words, what was your relationship like with Brandon back then?

Brandon had his own functional attitude.

She doesn't even know that when I left home, I tried to take my own life. She has no clue. Do you even know that?

Did you even know I even tried to take mine too?

It's always a one-up. Shirley has to one-up everything.

Do you know how many nights I stayed up crying over y'all?

Oh, okay.

That's what I say, okay.

What was I looking for?

Because again, it's always the one-up, right? You know what I mean? Like, oh, I was crying, so, oh, I'm crying too. Well, baby, we both crying.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

You know what I mean? We're both crying.

Shirley, did you get into fights with your other children?

I whooped my oldest daughter's ass 'cause she thought she could whoop my ass too.

Was that what happened to you when you were a child?

My mama tore my ass up all the time.

Okay.

So what's the difference?

Why didn't you want your son in your house?

'Cause when you think you're grown than me, then you need to be out on your own.

Okay, well.

But he was 13.

But when you think you're grown into me, then you need to be on your own.

Do you feel like Brandon is unfairly blaming you for the past?

They can blame me all they want to.

But do you think he's unfairly blaming you?

Yeah.

Okay.

Why do you think he's unfairly blaming you?

I know I did my wrong. Ain't no parent perfect. Nobody. Nobody's perfect. I made a mess. I tried to apologize and all of that. No.

Shirley, when did you reach out to me and try to apologize?

I did the things I needed to do to make my past, to get over my past, to make myself whole.

When did you reach out to me to apologize?

But I'm not gonna keep apologizing.

When did you reach out to me to apologize? I'm not gonna keep trying to make my past. When did you reach out to me and apologize?

Because my past is what made me here and brought me here today.

When have you reached out and apologized?

I've done things for Brandon and done said things and told Brandon I love him and forgive me for what I did wrong. I done said that over the phone many a times.

So Miss Shirley, I'm gonna say Shirley.

I'm not gonna keep apologizing for what I already tried to done right. I'm gonna say Shirley. I tried to make right.

But he's saying to you right now that he hasn't heard that apology.

So I will give her credit.

What does that mean?

I will give her credit. She did reach out to me last year when I was in the hospital. She did buy me food and pay half my rent 'cause I was in the hospital, right? I will give her that. I will give her that credit. But when she says, "I love you and I apologize," sometimes it's hard to believe what's real and what's not real. You know what I mean?

Yeah, because of the years that you felt like you had trouble.

Because all the hurt. So it's hard to take the real from the fake.

So what did you need from Shirley back then?

What I needed from Shirley back then was someone who's gonna protect me, someone who's gonna cheer for me, someone in my corner, someone to advocate for me. Because I went through a lot. Whether she wants to believe it and admit it or not, I went through a lot as a child.

Do you believe you did those things for him when he was younger? Protect him, cheer for him?

I did give him praise and I still give him praise. Whether he believe it or not, that's on him.

Okay.

That's on him. I tell him now to the day when I speak to him, I'm proud of you.

Yeah.

Whether he choose to believe it or not, that's on him.

But it's easy to be proud of someone when you didn't help create that amazing person. You know what I mean?

Look at her right now and tell her, what did you need from her back then?

I needed you to be there.

Even if I wasn't there, I can still tell you to the day I'm proud of you, period. I can still tell you I'm proud of you. Somebody ain't got to be there. If you feel like they want, they can still be proud of you, of who you are as a person, as a man or whatever. They can still, just like my mama weren't there for me, but I'm still proud of me.

You've taught me so many things indirectly. You taught me what I wanted from a partner. She was in a very abusive relationship growing up. And watching that, and I went through an abusive relationship. The guy who was my boyfriend was also my bully, believe it or not. And I thought that was normal because that's what she went through. But as I got older, I realized I don't want anyone hitting me. I don't want anyone talking down to me.

Yeah, yeah.

So she's taught me so many things indirectly, which is why I'm here. Like, I wanna be able to start fresh. But we can't start fresh without addressing the past. It shouldn't have taken me being in the hospital for you to reach out.

But we was reaching out before that too, little bit by little bit.

Shirley, when he was younger, were you in survival mode?

Yeah.

Yeah. What was that like for you? 'Cause now just getting this other information that you were abused.

I've been on my own since I was 16.

Yeah. Great.

So, and I took care of mine. I did what I had to do to take care of mine.

Yeah.

So I worked, I hustled a little bit. So I did what I had to do to take it. They didn't go without.

Yeah.

So I will say this woman is a true fighter. I've, again, I've seen her Everything.

Yeah.

Everything.

Yeah.

I've seen everything. Again, she has taught me, and I think that's where I get my strength from. So I feel like I get my survival mode and my strength and my worthiness from her.

Shirley, I wanna know.

I didn't lie to him.

Okay, that's a little bit of a stretch.

When I hustled, I never lied to y'all when I was hustling.

Okay.

I didn't lie to y'all.

All right.

Y'all knew where the money was and everything.

Yeah. Shirley, 'cause hold on a second.

Y'all didn't know what the other stuff was, but y'all just said anything happened, the money was such place.

Shirley, your son wants a resolution. I know you just said you thought you were working on it, but it seems like in this moment in his life, the abandonment that he felt, and I can tell that from your perspective, it was like you did the best you could. Hearing now also you were 16, that you were on your own. It's not that I'm excusing behavior, I'm not doing that. But what I'm saying is I can understand where you were. I understand now more the aggression. But your son is saying to you right now that I want to build more of a relationship, but I don't feel like you're hearing me when I say I was hurt. Can you just acknowledge that he was hurt?

Okay, he was hurt.

Can you go back to that?

But do you see how she says it though?

But hold on, no, no, no, because this is what I'm gonna say to you because I'm on your side. So one of the things that you have to let go is that if you really want a relationship with her, whatever she says and how she says it, you've gotta try to give her the benefit of the doubt from this point on. She's saying to you, I can acknowledge, but in your mind you're like, it's not what I want. It's not what I want. We have to understand especially about generational wounds and trauma and that's what we're experiencing. Your mother didn't have the tools. Tools. And again, I'm not excusing behavior, but she didn't have tools and she did the best she could. I do believe you tried. I do believe. But I also know that her trying left you feeling very abandoned and alone because she didn't know what to do. What do you need for her to say, to forgive this and start to move on? What do you need?

I think what I need is just her to be there, be more active, be more visible. I want you to genuinely call and say, "Hey, how are you doing? What do you need from me today?" When I invite you to things, I want you to be like, "Okay, I'm coming." Okay. I'm about to get married. I want you to be there.

Okay.

Do you wanna be there, Charlie?

Oh yeah.

Yeah, you do?

So I could dance in the middle for some, thank the Lord he's married now.

I noticed something. You use humor to mask your feelings and it's a protection for you. I get it, I get it. I see it now. 'Cause even when you were saying, "I want you to be there," your body language moved closer to you. She moved into you. She does wanna be there and she gave you an apology on this show today. And I think that should be the first step for you to know that you can heal this. I do believe your mother hears you. I truly do. I truly do. Shirley, is there anything you wanna say to your son before we go?

You know I love you. I love you with all my heart. Do anything for you, I'll be there.

Thank you.

I really have high hopes for Brandon and Shirley, and I know that 2023 will be the beginning of a new chapter. A new healthy relationship. Coming in at number 2 was another story about family and acceptance. Layton came to my show and was desperate to reunite with his family. However, his daughter Ariana claims that he doesn't acknowledge her as a woman after her transition, and his other daughter, Mikayla, won't even talk to him until he starts respecting Ariana and takes accountability for his mistakes that he's made. Let's watch this moving segment. Layton contacted me saying his two children treat him as if he's not living at all. I want y'all to take a look at this.

I need Karamo's help getting my family back together. I know I made mistakes in the past, but I love my kids. When they were young, we was happy, but when I got incarcerated, everything had changed. I blame myself 'cause I should have been there, but I also blame Bri. My kids don't call me, check on me. I didn't even know Makayla was pregnant I wasn't even pregnant. I just feel hurt and I just want everything to come back together, period. I'm 51 years old and I want my family back.

Well, before I talk to Leighton, I'm going to talk to his daughter, Ariana. Please everyone, welcome Ariana to the show. Oh, stunning. Oh, she's stunning. How are you? Hi, Karamo. Nice to meet you. Hold on. I didn't know we had a supermodel coming out today. You look gorgeous.

Thank you.

You really do.

Okay, so I just saw that video for the first time of your father. How do you feel about what you just saw?

If we gonna come on here, let's be like, let's come correct. We're all grown, so to blame other people for like stuff that you did as a man, as a father is just like, So what did he do that's causing him to feel like he's lost his family?

Or in your opinion, what did he do to lose his family?

Well, for one, I mean, he's never really been in my life. The only memories that I have of my father is like traumatic experiences.

Got it.

And so I'm transgender and I don't really know how he feels about it, but it's like, it's wishy-washy. It's like, I want my family back, but at the same time, you need to acknowledge me as your daughter. "I'm not your son." Yes.

So does he still interact with you as if you were his son? He doesn't respect your transition?

Well, to my mom, he still refers to me as his son.

How does that make you feel knowing that your father is still not in a space to respect you?

It hurts my feelings because it's like I fought so hard to be here and I've been through a lot. I feel hurt that I can't have my mother and my father.

When was the last time you saw Layton?

I saw him at my sister's wedding. My sister's graduation.

Okay, and what was that?

Not my graduation, my sister's graduation. Guess he want his son back, but he's dead and gone, so.

Yes, yes. So what was it like when you saw Leighton at your sister's graduation?

It was, I felt like he was just another person off the street. So why would I?

So did you ever have that bond like at all? No. So why do you think in his mind does it feel he thinks that you all had that relationship? Because I'm watching the video the same way you did and it sounds like like, hey, I'm a dad, I wanna be there, and like all these things, but I'm hearing something different from you.

I mean, maybe when I was younger and he had his son, like, but I can't recall a time where it was like, yeah, my dad, like I just remember the bad memories.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, yeah. What were those bad memories?

Well, I could recall him coming home, being drunk and taking it out on me like physically and emotionally and stuff, so.

I'm sorry.

Thank you.

Very sorry. I'm sorry. And so at the graduation when you saw your father, did you two speak? What happened?

Well, he came up to me and his first words were, "You can't speak to nobody." And it's like, that's how you approach people? Like if you're so, "I want my family back and my child, my child." Hi, how are you? How you been? What's up with you? What's going on in life?

Does your sister Mikayla have you? Same relationship with your father?

I think he wants to be in her life. Like, I think that's like his little girl. So I think for her it's just like, dude, we don't—

Does she wanna be in his life?

I can't speak for her. I don't know.

Got it. Okay. Everyone, please welcome Leighton to my show. How you doing, Layton?

Good.

All right, please take a seat for me.

What's going on?

All right, Layton, so you want your family back. What do you mean by that?

What I mean by that is I mean talk to them and everything. I don't talk to them.

So what's your response to what you heard Ariana say?

I mean, it hurts.

Why does it hurt?

'Cause they my kid, that's my blood. I mean, I watched them grow up. I mean, I wasn't there all the time. No, I wasn't. I blame myself for that.

So tell me, how did you feel when you saw Aryana at Makayla's graduation?

I mean, it hurt because it's like, looked at me like I wasn't daddy. Like didn't talk to me nothing like that.

Mm-hmm.

But what did you expect me to say? Like the way your approach is everything. It's not what you say, It's how you say it. We haven't seen each other in how long? We don't talk to each other, we don't call each other. So what were you expecting?

But I mean, but that's not my, I'm not blamed for all that though. Us not talking to each other. I try to call.

The phone go both ways.

I try to talk. Every time I try to call, I don't get no answer, nothing like that. So that made me to just stop calling.

Lane, I got a question for you. Ariana said that when you saw her prom picture, you deleted it off the phone. You tell me about that and why?

Deleted it?

Yeah.

I ain't delete no pictures.

You didn't delete the photo. So I wanna ask you point blank, do you accept Aryana as your daughter?

Yeah, I do.

She could be a dinosaur, whatever. I still, that's my child. That's mines.

The fact that you said Aryana, I do accept you as my daughter. And she says she doesn't know if she can believe you, which that's her experience. But she also just said that your ex-wife has also shared with her that you still refer to her as a boy. How do you respond to that?

That's not true. I mean, if that's the case, I would call him Isaiah. I call her Ariana.

That's what I call her.

Ariana. Ariana.

You taking everything as a joke right now. That's what's making me mad.

That's my legal name.

That's what's making me mad right now. You got everybody laughing. Pissing me off right now.

Because I'm funny?

Damn, man.

Layton, what do you wanna say to her?

Right now, I don't even know what I wanna say.

But what are you frustrated about? I'm confused. I didn't sit here and call you a liar. I didn't say nothing derogatory to you. I'm respecting you. Like, I'm confused.

What is frustrating you? Because I'm giving you, I don't know if you noticed, I wanna make sure you're having an opportunity to share your point.

It's just, I mean, Like I said, I just don't feel like I'm getting respected as a father.

I just remember you coming home drunk and I don't know what will be going on with you, but you would take it out on me.

Ariana's little sister, Mikayla, is also here and she sees things very different than her father. Mikayla, please come on out.

Hi.

You wanna hug? Nice to meet you.

You too.

Yes. All right, so I see you just walked past your father. So I'm assuming that you don't have a good relationship.

There's not really much of a relationship there. I mean, I don't really feel like I have a father. Yeah.

Why?

He was never around.

So did you want a relationship with your father?

I would be open to it, but there's boundaries and things that I want from you. I want you to respect my sister as Ariana. I want you to respect my mother. And you don't do that.

How about I don't do that though?

So you don't be calling her Isaiah still?

He claims that he never did that and he never deleted the prom picture. He never called me Isaiah. He doesn't recall that, so.

I mean, at the beginning I probably, I mean, I called you Isaiah because I wasn't used to calling you Ariana.

Ariana?

I can't do this, man. On my life, I can't do this.

I'm done.

Well, you haven't been doing it for how many long, so continue.

Oh well.

Keep it up. Now it's oh well.

Oh well, go on, you doing it like baby.

Look at me, I'm doing fine.

Because the way you talking to me. I'm good.

I've been good my whole life.

I've been good.

Do you see me?

I'm gonna ask you, Makayla, you were just pregnant. You had a child, right?

Yes.

Did you tell your father about your child?

No.

Why?

What would I be telling you for? I just don't feel like that was something that you needed to know. I mean, if you were present, if you were around, yeah, you would've known about it, but who needed to know knew.

How do you feel that you have never met your grandchild?

I mean, it hurts. I mean, it just hurts.

Layton, when did you find out that Makayla had a child?

My brother told me.

Is this your first grandchild?

Yep.

But can I ask why you felt like you needed to know?

'Cause you my daughter.

But if I'm your daughter, then why aren't you around?

I'm in a different state and I try to be around, I try to call.

I'll give you that. You call and we don't answer. I don't answer. I mean, because the times I have picked up the phone, You blame everyone else but yourself.

How I blame anybody else?

You blame my mom, you blame me, you blame Ariana.

All right, joining us now is Bree. She met Leighton when she was a teenager and they got married. She's telling her side of the story with hopes that Leighton will finally listen to her and their daughters. Welcome everyone, Bree, to the show.

Hi, Nate.

How are you?

Thank you so much for coming on the show. Yeah, please take a seat. So I'm hearing a lot of confusion on Leighton's part. What was your experience?

Leighton just was not there. Whether he was physically in our home, he was not mentally, emotionally available for me, for them. But he puts a lot of the blame on me and I'm not the one to blame. Like I was there, I stepped up to the plate to fill your shoes and my shoes.

How was y'all's marriage when y'all were together?

Non-existent. It's a piece of paper.

So why are y'all still legally married?

Why?

Why?

Leighton has made it perfectly clear on several occasions that I'll always be his wife. He's, "Oh, I'll never divorce you." And I've tried. It is not for a lack of effort. I have tried, like. Right.

All right, so Layton. So I wanna hear your perspective because I'm hearing a constant from 3 people and I'm not trying to say that you're lying, but there's an inconsistency with what you're experiencing and what 3 different people are experiencing. They're all saying they experienced the same thing. You were not there. You were emotionally unavailable. You were physically unavailable. You just were not there. So they don't know you. They don't have a relationship with you.

Listen here, I got it perfectly clear now. I know for sure now, trust me.

So what do you wanna do to rectify that? Because you said you want your family back. Can you look at your family and say, "I'm sorry"?

I'm sorry and I apologize.

If we're gonna do anything today on this stage, please be for real.

He just said, "I'm sorry and I apologize." What do you want? Tell him.

Me personally, I want you to understand how you made me feel.

If you are going to be in our lives and try to make a relationship, you need to prove your acceptance of Ariana and not be calling her Isaiah and referring to her as your son. And just stop blaming everybody else.

And Bree, what do you need?

To piggyback off of Makayla, I just need you to accept that, or just respect the fact that you have two beautiful daughters. For me as a mother, I adore her. I have the utmost respect for her and I just wish everybody would. And I get that it's not for everybody, but that's your child. That's your daughter.

And I know that.

And I accept it.

And I accept it.

She's giving her truth and I respect it.

I respect your answer.

But you don't show me your respect.

Leighton, I do believe honesty Honestly, from today, and I will say this, I didn't know anything about you beforehand. I didn't know who you were. I didn't know how you were gonna react out here. I truly do believe in my heart of hearts and in my professional opinion that you wanna do better and wanna be here for your children.

I do.

I truly do believe that. But I believe that it's also very hard for you to hear all of these things and the pain you caused.

Yes, yes it is.

Yes, it is.

And it can feel like this is a never-ending cycle where you're always the bad guy. But the truth of the matter is, is that you won't always be the bad guy if you do one thing, and that's just own anything they say. The thing of the matter is you've already started doing that right now. You've already said, "I accept you as my daughter. I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you. I'm sorry that I did this." But what they're telling you is that it's not enough. So what you have to do right now is you have to tell your family that I'm willing to go on the journey of taking however long you all need to heal.

I could be here, I could wait for y'all to give me time. I mean, just forgive me. I apologize. It hurts me and everything, and I know it hurts y'all, and I'm sorry.

I think that's a big step. He clearly is letting y'all know he's not perfect. So if he's saying I'm I'm sorry, you gotta give him a chance to believe him. If he says, I accept you, you gotta give him a chance to believe you. And if he does something different, call him out. And that's the way y'all gonna heal. I actually wanna see y'all be well. I truly do. Because I'm gonna tell you right now, you got a beautiful family. So I believe y'all can heal. I believe y'all can be a family together. You've taken a very big step today and I honor you for that. Now's the time for y'all to do the work as a family. I do believe that Leighton wants to change and have a healthy relationship with his daughters. I wish him and his entire family love and happiness in 2023. As we count down to the new year, the countdown to the most watched YouTube clips comes to the end with the number 1 most watched clip of 2022. I'm 17, are you my daddy? Rashad came to my show and claimed he was not the father of 17-year-old Kiara. However, However, Keyonna, Kiara's mother, says he absolutely the father of her daughter. Kiara is caught in the middle of this confusion and is hurt and upset. Let's watch this bittersweet ending of the most watched clip of 2022. A lot of people reach out to me with the hope that I will uncover a truth that could lead to relief or closure, but sometimes it leads to heartache. One way or another, when things come to light, It's a moment of growth because when we are armed with the truth, remember friends, we can never be lost in the dark. Kiara's mother was only 15 years old when she found out that she was pregnant with her. She was terrified of having a baby so young, but she did her best to raise Kiara on her own. Kiara appreciates her mother's dedication to her, but has always struggled with the man she believes is her father. He has been denying her off and on for her entire life. Recently, he broke her heart for the final time when he told her, "Go find your real father." She came to me to ask for help to get a DNA test to reveal whether or not Rashad is in fact her biological father. How's it been for you knowing that Rashad has been denying you?

It's really been hard. I don't express my feelings a lot, Yeah. I try to keep it down, but everything that's been happening lately, he's been kept going on and on about the situation. I didn't care at first, but then like the last thing that he said, it really broke me a lot.

When do you remember Rashard first denying you?

I was around 11, 12.

Yeah.

But my mom said it was even younger than that, but I don't have no memory of all of that happening.

So I know that my producer said he sent you a nasty text recently. What was that text?

It was basically him saying that he's not my father and it's outta two other people.

You're in love. I mean, I know this is hurting you. Is this the text? You're not a daughter, never been, actually needed a blood test. Don't think you're mine anyway. Go find your real dad.

Yeah.

I wanna know from you, do you want a relationship with him? Do you want him to be your father?

I do. I really do.

Yeah.

And why?

Because I see how a lot of people get treated by him. He's a good man. He is. But like, it's just, I think it's just with me, to be honest. He shows emotion with different people more than he shows emotion with me.

Yeah. You took a DNA test.

Yes.

Do you think he's your father?

I do.

And now it's time to hear from her mother, Keyonna, to get her side of the story. Do you have any doubt that Rashad is her father?

I do not have no doubts. I was 15 years old. Like, okay, I was pregnant at 15, but I don't have no doubts whatsoever.

So when did he start denying her?

He started denying her, I could say around like 7 years old, but she like, basically they did another DNA around like 11 years old. So that's when everything just start going left.

So I'm confused. So at 11 years old, he did a DNA test?

Yes.

Then why are we still here questioning this?

Because he did not go through with it.

Okay.

That's my issue. He did not go through with it 'cause I feel like he know she his.

Got it.

Every other 2 years he like, oh, it's not my baby. Then another 2 years, that's my baby. And another 2 years it is my baby. It's getting confusing.

It's getting frustrating.

Yeah.

Okay, so have you ever said to him there could be another man that's possibly the father?

I, when we was very, very young, I'm not gonna lie, I did say that 'cause I was in over some mad situation because he had a girlfriend and But I know for sure that that's not true.

Got it.

He's their father.

So you were young, you made a comment, and then he latched onto it.

Yeah.

Did you make that comment around the time when she was 6, 7?

No, I only said it one time.

Okay.

Only said it one time when I was young. I was like 17 years old when I said it. And since then I've been just like saying, "You her father.

I know for a fact you her father." My producers told me that one of his complaints is that you were with other men. Were you with other men?

Not when I was pregnant, no, I wasn't. But if I'm not with you and you're not my boyfriend or anything like that, I'm gonna be with other men. I'm not gonna stay single because you want me to have, just be with you. No, I'm 15, it happened, I had her, and it is what it is. I'm not gonna stay single because you want me to.

How far along How pregnant were you when you found out?

I was 4 months pregnant. I didn't even know I was pregnant. I was 4 months baby having a baby, so I did not know.

And how long were y'all together at that point?

We wasn't even together.

And right now I wanna bring out the alleged father, Rashad, to hear his side of the story. Rashad, come on out.

Good to meet you.

Good to see you. Love you, Daddy. You sent a text to your daughter.

Yep. Yes.

Do you think that text is a loving text?

It wasn't appropriate at all, but this is why.

Then why did you send it?

Because my daughter was texting me back and forth talking about how I'm a deadbeat, I'm no good, I'm not there, which is totally not true. She be with a bunch of cousins and friends whose dads are in jail, whose dads are dead, and she's feeling them, and it rubbed off on her because at the same time, I always was there.

But do you think it reinforces her feelings when you say things like this? No. Because if you're feeling pain by your daughter saying something to you, I'm a parent, children say things outta their mouth all the time, but it's our job as parents to step above that.

It wasn't appropriate. Listen, right, and it wasn't appropriate. No, and I get that. I wanted to hurt my daughter's feelings, you know why? Because she hurt my feelings. She told me.

I get it. Hold on, hold on.

How you got your daughter telling you to?

But I wanna take a second.

So she hurt my feelings and I end up texting her back that stuff like, you know what, go find your real dad. I did say that because you know what, at the end of the day, I'm not gonna sit here and tolerate that. I'm gonna love you from a distance and I bet she ain't show them text messages. I'm gonna love you. I love you from a distance. You wanna be disrespectful and disobedient? I love you from a distance.

Before that, before he sent that text message.

I hurt her feelings because she told me to—

Okay, before he sent that.

So I told her I'm gonna find the real dad, stop it.

Anyways, before he sent that text message, me and him was on the phone for like a whole hour.

Say we wasn't.

We were.

Okay.

And I told my girl that. And I asked you, I asked you not to say nothing to Kiara.

Didn't I tell you that? And I told you I was gonna talk to her.

You don't tell me what to do.

Okay, but you be disrespectful.

Rashad, I wanna know this. What will you do if she's not your daughter?

I'm gonna still be there for her.

Move around.

No, you're not. Move around.

Even if I wanna be there, move around now.

You get me?

This is what I've been going through since she was a kid.

I'm tired of this.

You're not the father? I get that.

I'm tired.

You're not the father?

All right, listen everyone.

Angel was having sex with the baby, stop it.

All right everyone, listen, when we come back, we'll find out whether or not Rashad is the father.

You was having sex with me too, huh?

You was having sex with me too and I told your girlfriend.

Listen, listen, listen.

You playing with me.

She know what's up.

Listen, we have to stop this.

I'm old dude you be messing with. Go get checked, man.

But hold on, but you're participating as well.

That's what we gonna do.

Go get checked.

Yep, you gonna get checked.

Y'all know y'all daughter's backstage watching this, right?

Yeah, she—

You showed up because you were willing to do the work to figure out if this is your daughter so that maybe you could start to heal. And you're letting this relationship you have with somebody you met when you were 15 affect another generation. I can already hear from your story that you had trauma and pain. You were 15, went into jail or in jail when you were 16 or 17, whatever the timeline is. And then you stayed in jail, which means that there was issues.

I didn't stay in jail. I got better. I became like—

I'm not dogging you right now. What I'm saying right now is that you had a history of not having people there for you, not having support. That's the only reason a young man ends up in those situations.

Well, I ended up in those situations because I grew up without a father.

You just repeated what I said. I said you were 16 years old with no support. I heard it.

How'd you know that?

Because I can see the way you acting. I'm trained in this. But this is what gets me is that this is why this is not entertaining to me is because at the end of the day, the same hurt you received, the same hurt she received, all y'all doing is putting this on a little girl who doesn't deserve this.

All I was trying to do—

I wanna know to you is when you were 17, all I wanted—

listen, listen.

All I wanted to do is be there for all my kids and I'm there for every single last one of my kids and take care of every single last one of my kids. Me and my daughter being inconsistent, it's only because of the family member that they grew up in the household with and Keyonna. Me, them arguments has caused me to pause because she kept my daughter away from me.

What's Karamo say to you?

Plenty of times, Karamo.

Here, listen, listen, because I understand what you're saying, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what relationship you have with her. You're making the choice to engage. You're making the choice to be disrespectful. You're making the choice when you're hurt to disrespect your, your potential daughter. You're making those choices. And every time you get upset, every time you get heated, every time you feel like you're being challenged, that comes from that pain that you had as a little boy, you then lash out. And I think one of the things that I wanna talk to you about later after we get to this is helping you to understand that you're better than lashing out. You're better than that. You said you don't wanna be your father, then you have to start acting in different ways.

What I do know is that what—

And that's the truth.

Which is true.

I think you're better than that. All right, welcome back everyone. Before we get to the DNA results, I wanna bring Kiara and her mom, Kiana, back out. Welcome them back to the stage.

I'm sorry for walking off. I had to.

I got it. Why did you feel like you need to walk off?

'Cause I know myself with him. He's very, very rude, very ignorant, disrespectful and I don't got time for that.

Both of y'all were kids that had to grow up fast.

Exactly.

And unfortunately, y'all didn't get all the life skills and tools you needed. And y'all have been in defense mode. Y'all have been in modes where y'all are trying to do your best but making bad decisions. At the end of the day, your daughter wants to know if you're the father. You said go find your real father.

This is my daughter regardless.

Here go the results.

You scared, huh?

No, not at all. Take a seat, take a seat, take a seat.

Not at all, I'm not. Hey!

Woo!

Can I have that?

She mine?

Yeah, she mine?

Yeah.

Can I have apology, please?

Not to you.

Why?

But I will apologize to you. I'm so, so sorry if I brung you any type of pain before today. About even mentioning stuff like this in the text messages and stuff like this. I swear to God, like, I'm so sorry, daughter. Like, I always knew you was mine anyway.

I'm sorry. Yes, yes, that's what I want. This is exactly what I want right here. That's all I wanted. I'm sorry.

And I love you so much and I don't want you to think that I don't. I swear to God, I love you so much. I'm sorry about lashing out at times. I will get better. I promise.

I promise.

I love her.

So you all need this healing.

I love you. I love you too.

This is what I'm gonna offer to you as a family. If you both truly wanna stop the chaotic co-parenting, I'm gonna offer both of you anger management so that you can learn the skills to be able to communicate better when you're with each other so that way you stop shooting bullets at your daughter that's gonna hurt her for the rest of her life.

Of her life.

I apologize to you too.

That's my baby.

So I'm gonna ask y'all.

Not no hug, but can I get a handshake?

I'm gonna ask y'all right now. Hold on right now. One second, one second. I'm gonna ask y'all right now 'cause I need this commitment. Can y'all two commit in front of your daughter to stop this chaotic co-parenting for her?

I will commit.

Yes.

Can you say to your daughter, I will commit and do the best I can to make you happy and to not lash out with anger and to also respect your mom because I know that by not respecting her too, and you feel her emotionally, so if I'm saying all this hurtful stuff, you gonna vibe with Mommy 'cause that's exactly where you staying at. And I apologize for that too 'cause I shouldn't have to be talk saying names and calling mom this and that. And that's wrong.

I'm sorry.

And I will get way better with how I talk to you. And if something's a real situation, I will rather just hold your hand and let's sit down and talk about it rather than accusing you of anything.

Great.

Because I never sat you down. Thank you. I never sat her down from that situation she brung up. I just lashed out. And that was wrong of me.

So now can you two commit to going to that anger management? I'll go.

I'll go.

You'll go?

I'll go.

Y'all gonna be all right. You're gonna be all right. You're especially gonna be all right because what I'm gonna teach your parents is to put you first. Because right now they've been putting their emotions first and you need to come first. And as you grow up, never allow anybody to put you second You come first and don't lash out, okay? When they learn anger management, they start to learn these skills, ask them, say, can y'all teach me these skills too? All right, seriously, 'cause I already know you picked up they skills and you about to be 18 and I don't want you to start doing this in your own life as well. Break the pattern now, okay? You have a lot of strength and vulnerability and you can break it, all right? But I'm glad you committed to getting help because I believe this could be a family that can start to heal. Listen everyone, we've seen this family get some answers that they needed so they can start to heal. Stay with us. Listen, I love bringing families together, and I know that Kierra and her father Rashad have many years of father-daughter happiness in front of them. Okay everyone, thanks for all your support this year, and I wish you a prosperous new year. Remember to watch my show weekdays, and to find out where and when, go to karamoshow.com/watch. And finally, thanks for watching watching my segments on YouTube and for all your love and support across all social media in 2022. Thanks for watching. Happy 2023 to everyone. Now go out there and celebrate, or stay in your house like I'm about to do. Hold on, where you going? I'll tell you where you're going. Right here to subscribe and right here to watch more.

Period.