Fears for Gladys Knight: Son reveals bitter family feud... heartbreaking reason he can no longer bear to watch videos of her... and the man he says is behind it all

Gladys Knight is no stranger to the spotlight having spent decades belting out hit after hit as the iconic 'Empress of Soul.'

But this past summer, when the 82-year-old soul legend graced stages across the US for her latest tour, her legion of adoring fans were left deeply concerned: Knight appeared dazed and disoriented and even tried to wander off mid-performance.

As the alarm bells about her health began ringing louder, Knight made the surprising revelation late last month that after 'much soul searching' she would be 'easing' back from the spotlight and cutting down on shows as part of her next era.

Now, her own son is claiming Knight's worrying behavior and subsequent decision to step back is proof the Midnight Train to Georgia hitmaker has allegedly been 'worked to death' and blames her much younger husband and manager.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Shanga Hankerson is claiming Knight's husband, William McDowell, 68, has continued to send her out on tour – despite obvious signs she is no longer capable of performing as she once did.

'She should not be working and she should not have been working for years now,' Hankerson, 50, claimed. 

'I worry about her all the time. I can't watch videos or what people send me. I have to block all that out.'

McDowell, who is Knight's fourth husband and has been married to her since 2001, did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Mail about his stepson's claims. 

Knight's spokeswoman, Laura Herlovich, also declined to comment when asked a litany of questions about the mental health and well-being of the legendary singer.

Hankerson ignited what has become a bitter family feud when he first came forward last year alleging his mother was suffering from long-term cognitive decline – only for the crooner to publicly shoot down health concerns at the time.

But Hankerson said footage of the seven-time Grammy winner's recent performances over the summer, as well as the mounting concern from adoring fans, has since vindicated him.

'It has gotten progressively worse over time,' Hankerson said of his mother's health, claiming he first began noticing changes a decade ago when Knight began repeating herself and 'talking in circles.'

Hankerson added that things have now worsened to the point where the mom-of-three sometimes doesn't even recognize him. 

And he claimed that his stepfather has been trying to distance Knight from family in recent years, leading to her being mostly estranged from him and his half-sister, Kenya Newman, which has made it difficult for them to intervene. Knight's third child, Jimmy Newman, died in 1999.

Kenya Newman did not return calls from the Daily Mail. 

'About the last eight or ten years or so, Mr McDowell has really been successful in sequestering her from her entire family,' Hankerson claimed, noting he is now 'totally cut off' and blocked from contacting his mother. 

Hankerson claims his concerns became so serious last year that he lodged a complaint with Adult Protective Services in North Carolina where Knight lives, accusing McDowell of mental and financial elder abuse. 

The Daily Mail obtained a copy of the previously unpublished complaint written in August 2025 to Buncombe Adult Protective Services, in which Hankerson claimed Knight was in the 'later stages of dementia, once wandered away from a hotel while on tour and wound up in another hotel across town unable to tell staffers where she was staying.'

'My mom is in such an aggressive cognitive decline that she often does not know where she is at any given time,' Hankerson wrote.

While acknowledging his mother's voice remained 'trademark strong,' Hankerson claimed in the complaint that she relied on teleprompters for lyrics and to remind her which song came next. 

Knight's son, who gave various media interviews at the time about the complaint, told the Daily Mail that social workers conducted a wellness visit at Knight's Asheville home but he never received a report or substantive follow-up. 

The Buncombe County Services would not confirm or deny that an elder complaint was filed by Hankerson. At the time of those media reports, Knight's publicist ripped Hankerson's allegations as 'unfounded' and 'defamatory.'

Knight issued her own statement saying: 'I'm sorry that my health and performances have been misrepresented' and that she was 'doing very well, healthy and happy.'

McDowell, meanwhile, declined to comment at the time, noting his wife's public statement would suffice. 

Still, the concerns about Knight's health intensified over the summer when fans and industry insiders spoke out following instances at multiple shows where Knight seemed visibly disoriented.   

Video emerged of Knight appearing confused during a June 26 performance in Rochester, New York, where she turned her back to the audience and appeared to take cues from her backup singers. 

Similar fears were reported a month later during a show at the Hollywood Bowl where the Los Angeles Times noted Knight appeared to lose her place during the same song and was assisted by her backup singers.

Following repeated headlines about her on-stage behavior, Knight's husband and manager admitted to TMZ that the singing legend has 'good days and bad.' He said Knight had not been diagnosed with dementia but he planned to take her to a doctor to check things out.

Then, Knight posted a statement on social media later that same day revealing her decision to slow things down. 

'After much soul searching I've decided that I will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward,' she wrote in the August 27 post.

'I'll be spending more time on projects with my husband and visiting with my grandbabies and am looking forward to this new era.'

Hankerson, for his part, has said his campaign is not about getting his hands on his mother's fortune. 

'I don't want her money,' he said. 'I want her to make sure she has access to all of her resources.' 

'This is something she has worked since she was eight years old to get to this point, to get to this level.' 

Hankerson said he does not even know the state of Knight's finances but accused McDowell of maintaining an extravagant lifestyle with her money. He is building a huge entertainment complex at their North Carolina home, the Daily Mail was told.

This latest saga isn't the first time Hankerson, who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2021 for federal payroll-tax offenses, has been embroiled in a bitter family battle.  

In 2017, Knight won a legal order requiring Hankerson to stop using her name, image and memorabilia in connection with the Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles restaurants he had launched in Atlanta and Washington, DC.

Hankerson had tried to argue that his mother lacked the 'mental capacity' to end the agreement, but Knight accused him in court of trying to 'extort' and 'blackmail' her by threatening to claim publicly that she had dementia or Alzheimer's.

Now, as the latest saga plays out, Knight's other family members have been noticeably more tightlipped than Hankerson. 

Knight's older brother, Merald 'Bubba' Knight, who performed with Knight as the unofficial leader of Gladys Knight and the Pips for about 37 years until the group broke up in 1989, was hesitant to say much when reached by the Daily Mail at his Las Vegas home. 

'The family has shut down on commenting on what my sister's going through right now,' Merald said. 

'My phone has been blowing up but we hope if we stay out of it, things might get resolved. What I want to say to all her supporters and the people who are concerned - keep praying because we all need prayer, and so does she.' 

Knight's second husband, Barry Hankerson, who is Shanga's father, told the Daily Mail he has been kept out of the loop for a long time. 

'I haven't been to any of her shows in years,' he said. 

'I've been totally detached from her and her life and career for decades. My kids don't get much information about her either. She's been kept very isolated. But I wish her well.'