Buku Abi, R. Kelly’s daughter, is offering her version of events.
In the brand-new, two-part documentary film Karma: A Daughter’s Journey on TVEI Streaming Network, 26-year-old Abi addresses claims that her mother, Andrea Kelly, brainwashed her and the children of the disgraced R&B artist against him.
The accusations were made in 2019, when Kelly was being accused of sexual assault after the documentary Surviving R. Kelly was released. Abi referred to her father’s estrangement as a “monster” at the time, while Kelly’s close friends told TMZ that Kelly thought Abi had been “brainwashed” by her mother.
In Karma, Abi (born Joanne Kelly) states, “I feel like it’s bull—— when it comes to him feeling as if my mom has brainwashed us.”He is fully aware of the reasons why our relationship with him isn’t what it could be. How you could touch my mother and then expect me to be able to have the same relationship with you is beyond me.
While Kelly was Kelly’s spouse from 1996 to 2009, Abi’s mother Andrea accused him of physical abuse on several occasions while he was a cast member of The View in 2018.Kelly’s representatives did not reply to a comment request at that time.
“My mother endured a great deal. She experienced severe mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish. Regarding the alleged abuse in the documentary, Abi—who is also a musician—says, “I thought I was never going to get my mama back.” So it’s okay for you to claim that she’s brainwashing them. You know exactly what you did, it seems like. And I fail to see how that would not, in his opinion, have an impact on us. We all know it’s untrue; therefore, I think it was unjust and unfair to keep saying that.
Kelly was found guilty in February 2023 of child pornography and luring adolescents into her presence for sex in a Chicago courtroom. She received a 20-year prison term. He was given a 30-year prison term one year prior for racketeering and sex trafficking offenses stemming from New York. Kelly will be eligible for parole in 2045 after completing 19 years of his two sentences concurrently.
In other parts of the documentary, Abi asserts that she was sexually molested as a child by the “Ignition (Remix)” singer, and she first told her mother about it in 2009, when she was ten years old.
“He was everything to me.” I didn’t even want to accept that it had happened for a very long time. She says in the now-streaming series, “I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person, he would do something to me.” “I was too afraid to inform anyone.” I was afraid to inform my mother.
Kelly’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjean claimed in a statement to PEOPLE that her client “is the most investigated person on the planet when it comes to allegations of child sexual abuse.” We would have seen the allegations in one of his several indictments if they had been true.”
In an earlier statement, Bonjean told people that Mr. Kelly “vehemently denies these allegations.” Years ago, his ex-wife made the same accusation, which the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services looked into but concluded to be untrue. Additionally, the ‘filmmakers,’ whoever they are, did not get in touch with Mr. Kelly and his team to even give him the chance to deny these damaging accusations.
Call 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453 (the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline) if you believe a child has been abused, or visit www.childhelp.org. Every call is private and toll-free. The helpline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.