Tyriq Withers Parents: Meet His Mother, Father and Family
Tyriq Withers’ parents are Kimberly Hart-Johnson and Leon Withers Jr. His mother is white and originally from Maine, while his father is Black American and from Chicago. After his parents separated, the actor grew up primarily with his mother and older brother in Jacksonville, Florida.
Known for his roles in Atlanta, Him, and Reminders of Him, Withers has spoken publicly about his mixed-race identity, childhood experiences, and the family relationships that influenced his path from college football to acting.
| Family Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tyriq Leshon Withers |
| Mother | Kimberly Hart-Johnson (also known as Kimberly Hart) |
| Father | Leon Withers Jr. |
| Mother’s background | White American, originally from Maine |
| Father’s background | Black American, from Chicago |
| Tyriq’s ethnicity | Biracial; identifies as a Black man |
| Parents’ relationship | Separated |
| Birthplace | Jacksonville, Florida, United States |
| Date of birth | July 15, 1998 |
| Age | 28 (as of October 2026) |
| Older brother | Kionte Devon Withers (1995–2021) |
| Sister | Cayla Withers |
| Childhood upbringing | Primarily raised by his mother in Jacksonville |
Tyriq Withers Parents: Kimberly Hart-Johnson and Leon Withers Jr.
Tyriq Withers was born on July 15, 1998, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Kimberly Hart-Johnson and Leon Withers Jr. His parents had previously welcomed their first son together, Kionte Devon Withers, on January 30, 1995, in Brunswick, Maine.
According to PEOPLE’s March 2026 family profile, Kimberly and Leon eventually separated. Kimberly then raised Tyriq and Kionte primarily in Jacksonville, where the brothers developed interests in sports and making videos.
Withers has described having different experiences with his mother and father while growing up. His mother was closely involved in his athletic and creative interests, while his relationship with his father was more complicated during childhood.
Although his parents are not entertainment industry figures, their backgrounds and his relationships with them have become part of his public story. More about his education, early acting work, and professional development appears in our Tyriq Withers biography.
Who Is Tyriq Withers’ Mother, Kimberly Hart-Johnson?
Kimberly Hart-Johnson is Tyriq Withers’ mother. She is originally from Maine and played a central role in raising him and his older brother after separating from their father.
She has also been identified as Kimberly Hart in entertainment reporting and Kimberly Johnson in Kionte’s family obituary. These are publicly documented name variations, although the available sources do not establish the history behind them.
Kimberly encouraged Tyriq’s interests in both athletics and entertainment. As a child, he spent time creating videos with Kionte, experimenting with performances long before acting became his profession.
PEOPLE, referencing an earlier Empire Magazine interview, reported that Kimberly recognized his performing abilities and accompanied him to casting calls when he was younger.
How His Mother Supported His Sports and Acting Ambitions
Before becoming an actor, Withers spent much of his childhood playing competitive soccer. He later switched to American football during high school and joined Florida State University’s football program as a walk-on wide receiver.
In a July 2025 interview with Interview Magazine, conducted by musician Tierra Whack, he reflected on his complicated relationship with competitive sports.
Withers explained that his desire to succeed had been strongly connected to making his mother proud. During college, he began questioning whether sports were the career he personally wanted to pursue.
He discussed the same connection in an October 2025 Moviefone interview, describing his sporting ambitions as rooted in love for his family, particularly his mother.
His comments reveal how family motivation influenced his earlier goals without suggesting that Kimberly forced him into athletics.
Kimberly Hart-Johnson’s Support for His Hollywood Career
Kimberly continued supporting her son after he entered the entertainment industry.
She accompanied him to public events associated with the 2025 horror film Him, in which he starred alongside Marlon Wayans.
In March 2026, she also attended a red-carpet event for Reminders of Him with Tyriq. PEOPLE published a photograph credited to his Instagram account showing the actor with his mother.
Kimberly has celebrated his achievements through social media as well. PEOPLE reported that she shared promotional material for Reminders of Him in January 2026 and expressed pride in his accomplishments.
These public moments show her continued involvement in his career while leaving much of her personal life outside the spotlight.
Who Is Tyriq Withers’ Father, Leon Withers Jr.?
Leon Withers Jr. is Tyriq Withers’ father. He is Black American and originally from Chicago, Illinois.
Unlike his son, Leon has maintained a relatively private public profile. Reliable entertainment reporting provides limited information about his profession, exact age, or personal activities outside the family.
Tyriq has nevertheless spoken openly about their relationship.
During a January 2026 appearance on The Pivot Podcast, he discussed difficulties involving his father during childhood. As reported by PEOPLE, Withers described his father as present in their lives but not always available in the ways he and Kionte needed.
His comments indicate that their relationship was challenging during his younger years. However, they do not establish every circumstance surrounding his parents’ separation or their private family history.
Has Tyriq Withers’ Relationship With His Father Improved?
Publicly reported interactions suggest that Tyriq and Leon have maintained a more supportive connection in recent years.
According to PEOPLE, Leon celebrated his son’s birthday on Facebook in July 2025 and shared an encouraging message about his future.
Tyriq also recalled a lighter interaction involving his father while filming Him. During an August 2025 interview with Complex, he described calling Leon on FaceTime because his father wanted to speak with Marlon Wayans.
These moments suggest an ongoing relationship and public support for Tyriq’s acting career.
They do not establish that every difficulty from his childhood has been resolved, and neither father nor son has publicly documented every stage of their relationship.
What Is Tyriq Withers’ Parents’ Ethnicity and Race?
Tyriq Withers comes from a biracial family. His mother, Kimberly Hart-Johnson, is white, while his father, Leon Withers Jr., is Black American.
Withers discussed his racial background during a September 26, 2025 appearance on the Higher Learning podcast with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay.
As quoted by PEOPLE, he explained that his father is Black American from Chicago and his mother is white from Maine.
He also described growing up with a Black cultural experience while recognizing that his appearance affects how others perceive him.
Is Tyriq Withers Black or White?
Tyriq Withers is biracial and has publicly identified as a Black man.
His identity reflects both his family background and his own experiences. Having a white mother and a Black father does not mean that he must identify exclusively with one side of his ancestry.
In his September 2025 GQ interview, Withers described struggling with questions of racial identity while growing up.
He discussed feeling caught between other people’s expectations and finding it difficult to explain his experiences.
That background later became relevant to his work in Atlanta, where he portrayed a mixed-race student facing questions about identity and belonging.
What Is His Parents’ Nationality?
Kimberly Hart-Johnson and Leon Withers Jr. have reported family origins in the United States.
Kimberly is from Maine, while Leon is from Chicago, Illinois. Their son Tyriq was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and is American.
Nationality and ethnicity describe different aspects of identity. Maine and Chicago establish where his parents are from, while their reported racial backgrounds help explain Tyriq’s biracial heritage.
The reviewed sources do not independently document each parent’s citizenship records or complete ancestral history. Claims about a specific European country of origin for Kimberly’s ancestors would therefore require additional evidence.
Tyriq Withers’ Siblings and Family Background
Tyriq Withers has an older brother, Kionte Devon Withers, who died in 2021, and a sister named Cayla Withers.
Both siblings are identified in the family obituary published by Fraser Funeral Home following Kionte’s death.
His Older Brother, Kionte Devon Withers
Kionte was born on January 30, 1995, in Brunswick, Maine. He grew up in Jacksonville alongside Tyriq, and the brothers shared interests in sports, photography, and creating videos.
According to GQ’s September 2025 interview, Kionte introduced Tyriq to making videos when they were younger.
The brothers made short comedy videos and experimented with filming themselves, giving Tyriq early opportunities to perform in front of a camera.
Kionte also served as an important mentor and role model during Tyriq’s childhood.
What Happened to Tyriq Withers’ Brother?
Kionte Withers died in a car accident on April 30, 2021, at the age of 26.
His dates of birth and death are documented in the original Fraser Funeral Home obituary, which also identifies his parents and surviving family members.
The loss deeply affected Tyriq, who was pursuing an acting career in Atlanta at the time.
Speaking to GQ in September 2025, he explained that he considered returning home to help care for Kionte’s young son.
He eventually decided to continue pursuing acting, believing that doing so would honor his brother’s memory.
Withers has since connected his professional ambitions with the desire to remember Kionte and make meaningful use of the opportunities available to him.
Who Is Cayla Withers?
Cayla Withers is identified as a sister of Kionte and Tyriq in their family’s obituary.
Unlike Tyriq, she has not been the subject of extensive mainstream entertainment reporting.
Her precise age, occupation, and other private details are not reliably established in the reviewed sources.
How His Family Experiences Connect to His Acting Career
Tyriq Withers’ family background provides useful context for some of the subjects he has explored as an actor.
One notable example is his performance in Donald Glover’s FX series Atlanta.
In the 2022 episode Rich Wigga, Poor Wigga, Withers played Aaron, a mixed-race high school student confronted with questions about racial identity while seeking a college scholarship.
The storyline connected with experiences Withers had discussed from his own life.
In GQ, he explained that he had struggled to articulate his identity while growing up. The role allowed him to explore related themes through a fictional character, although Aaron’s story was not a direct recreation of his family’s experiences.
Withers also portrayed Tim in Hulu’s college drama Tell Me Lies, following his appearance in Atlanta. The television role added to his early screen credits before he moved into larger film productions.
His athletic background became especially relevant to Him (2025), in which he played Cameron Cade, a young football quarterback drawn into a disturbing mentorship arrangement with an established player portrayed by Marlon Wayans.
In his Moviefone interview, Withers connected the film’s themes of ambition and sacrifice with his own experiences as an athlete trying to make his mother proud.
Among Tyriq Withers’ movies and TV shows, Him therefore has a particularly clear connection to his personal sporting background.
His role in Reminders of Him (2026) also involved a character dealing with the consequences of a fatal car accident. GQ noted the emotional parallels with the loss of his brother, though the fictional story and Withers’ personal experience remain distinct.
Are There Pictures of Tyriq Withers With His Parents?
Yes. Publicly identified photographs of Tyriq Withers with his mother, Kimberly Hart-Johnson, have appeared in entertainment reporting and on social media.
One documented example is a photograph of Tyriq and Kimberly attending a Reminders of Him red-carpet event in March 2026.
PEOPLE included that image in its March 13, 2026 family profile and credited it to Tyriq Withers’ Instagram account.
His mother also appeared at events associated with Him in September 2025, including celebrations around the film’s premiere.
Photographs specifically identifying his father, Leon Withers Jr., are less widely documented in established entertainment coverage. An image circulating online should not automatically be treated as authentic without a reliable caption or original source.
Family photographs involving Kimberly, Kionte, or other relatives should likewise be identified through trustworthy image credits rather than appearance-based assumptions.
What Else Is Known About His Parents’ Personal Lives?
Despite Tyriq Withers’ growing public profile, Kimberly Hart-Johnson and Leon Withers Jr. have not shared extensive personal biographies through mainstream entertainment interviews.
Their exact ages, occupations, complete ancestry, and the precise date of their separation are not firmly established in the reviewed evidence.
What is documented is that Kimberly primarily raised Tyriq and Kionte in Jacksonville, encouraged Tyriq’s early interests, and continues to celebrate his career.
Leon has also publicly supported his son’s accomplishments, while Tyriq has acknowledged that their relationship involved difficulties during childhood.
Together, these documented accounts explain the family background behind many public questions about Tyriq Withers’ parents without treating unconfirmed personal details as established facts.
