Marlon Wayans on Why He Chose to Discuss His Son’s Transition in New Comedy Special

Marlon Wayans opened up in a new interview with People about accepting his son’s transition and choosing to discuss the deeply personal matter in his upcoming stand-up special.

Wayans has previously admitted having a hard time accepting his eldest son Kai, 24, formerly Amai, coming out as transgender. “I talk about the transition,” Wayans said on an episode of The Breakfast Club last November. “Not their transition, but my transition as a parent, going from ignorance and denial to complete unconditional love and acceptance. And I think there's a lot of parents out there that need to have that message. And I'm dealing with it. It was a very painful situation for me."

Wayans told People that he went “from defiance to acceptance. It took me all of a week, and in that week I grew the most that I ever did in my life. You understand the purpose of kids and the beauty of unconditional love. At the end of the day, in my heart, [the] only thing that matters to me is that my child is happy.”

Now, he’s sharing that message with other parents who might need to hear it in his fourth stand-up special, Good Grief, premiering June 4 on Amazon Prime Video. He hopes “to gift not just laughter but some lessons.”

Wayans said Kai had no issue with their father using a particularly personal chapter of their lives to entertain sprawling audiences. “I have a contract with my kids: ‘Whatever you do in life, just know that there’s a possibility I’m going to find some humor and talk about it,’” Wayans explained.

"I feel like it was important for me to once again find the light in the darkness," he continued, "and gift that to the audience because I feel like there's so many people that are going through it."

Good Grief premieres on Amazon Prime Video on June 6.