Comedian Marlon Wayans was one of the latest guests on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s IMO podcast. During his time there, the White Chicks actor had an open conversation with the hosts about his child Kai who transitioned into a transgender man and how he dealt with their transition.
“When they went through the transition, I actually went through the transition,” Wayans said. “I went from denial to complete acceptance. It took me a week to get there.
He also shared that he lost some relationships along the way. “There’s people that go, ‘I’m not going to associate with you because you do that, or this is against God’… But I am going to love my baby…I lost people that are small-minded, small-hearted, and self-loathing. So goodbye. And for every one I lose, I gain 150 more.”
The comedian revealed Kai’s transition in 2023 during an interview with The Breakfast Club.
“What I’ve learned as a parent is for you to stop loving your child because of their choice and their life, that’s a poor reflection on you,” he said. “When there’s people that go: ‘I’m not going to associate with you because you do that’, or ‘this is against God’, listen, I am not here to judge. I am not God. Only God can judge… and if that’s a mistake and we get to heaven and God don’t let my child in, [I’ll] shave her beard and sneak him in through the back.
The Scary Movie actor concluded, “But I’m going to love my baby, I’m a father. I’m always going to defend them, I’m always going to protect them, I’m always going to respect them.”
Marlon is a proud advocate for LGTBQ+ rights and often defends Kai and embraces their life path. The 52-year-old had Kai with his ex Angela Zackery in 2000. The former couple were in a relationship from 1992 to 2013. They also had another son, Shawn Wayans, who was born in 2002.
In 2024 during an interview on the Jennifer Hudson show, Wayans also got vulnerable about his journey to accepting Kai’s transition.
“I went through the five stages of grief to get to the beautiful, magical place called acceptance.” He added that Kai taught him that he was “a lot stronger than I thought I”. They are “the same child they was before, they’ve just got a beard now.”
Wayans has made it clear that his children’s happiness is his top priority.
“This is their life and they should be happy if they do this,” he said while chatting with Blocks podcast. “And if they want to change back, or whatever they want to do, it’s not on me to punch down on my child. It’s on me to love my child. All I can do is love my child and that’s what I do.”
