Days after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down R. Kelly’s appeal of his 20-year federal conviction on charges involving child pornography and his trapping of underage girls to have sex with him, the disgraced R&B singer’s daughter has shared her own truth.
Buku Abi, eldest daughter of the “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number” producer and his ex-wife Drea Kelly, born Joann Kelly, came forward to reveal that her father molested her.
The mother-daughter duo will be featured in a new docuseries titled “R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey,” where Buku details how the convicted sex offender touched her inappropriately.
In a clip from the first episode, the “Growing Up says in a darkly lit room, “He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened.”
“I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person that he would do something to me,” she continued, before adding, “I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”
When The Neighborhood Talk posted a clip from the documentary, fans were outraged and chimed in, disgusted that Kelly’s crimes could have possibly extended to his own children.
While many of the comments prayed for the daughter’s healing, many questioned Drea’s role in protecting her children from the sex predator, taking digs at her choice to keep R. Kelly’s last name.
“Where was her mother? Idc what nobody say them mommas be knowing,” one person wrote.
Another comment read, “To each it’s own but if I was the mother, I would not be carrying his last name, especially if he touched our child! I don’t give a damn what so called opportunities come behind having the last name, it’s not worth it if the last name tied to abuse and sexual abuse!”
“Wow…and Andrea behind still singing his songs…wildddd,” someone else added.
A fourth comment read, “They need to play this in the prison and let all the inmates see.”
When a number of remarks stated that they did not believe R. Kelly’s daughter, one person said, “Only god knows the truth, and if it is true, not everyone feels comfortable speaking about their abuse until they feel the time is right. 100%. If it’s not true God will deal with it!”
While this is the first time that she publicly shared the news of this incest, People magazine reports that Buku did muster up the courage to tell her mother in 2009 when she was 10 years old and after the couple was divorced.
The couple separated in 2005, with Drea filing for an order of protection, and dissolved their marriage four years later, according to Essence.
According to Buku Abi, Drea would later take her child to the police to file a complaint as “Jane Doe.” However, because she said the assault had happened a couple of years prior, law enforcement told the family that “they couldn’t prosecute him.”
As a result, the mother stopped visitation with her children to his home.
“I really feel like that one millisecond completely just changed my whole life and changed who I was as a person and changed the sparkle I had and the light I used to carry,” Abi recalls. “After I told my mom, I didn’t go over there anymore; my brother [Robert] and sister [Jaah], we didn’t go over there anymore. And even up until now I struggle with it a lot.”
Abi explained in the second episode that her father started touching her when she was 8 or 9 years old, claiming that she would be asleep in bed and wake up to the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer “touching” her.
“I just remember waking up to him touching me. I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep,” she said in the documentary.
R. Kelly’s daughter, Buku, says she was sexually abused by him as a child:
“He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened. I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person that he would do something to me. I was too scared to tell anybody. I… pic.twitter.com/939kAUmsME
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 11, 2024
Buku said she will never bring her son to visit his grandad in prison.
During her sit-down with Osei the Dark Secret on “The Culture Club Uncensored,” Drea shared that she had not spoken to Kelly in about a decade.
When asked how he was a dad, Drea was quick to say, “horrible,” noting that the singer confused being a “provider” with being a “father.”
In the interview, she alluded to the disconnect between him and the children as being his being too busy working to make time for them.
Osei broached the conversation about the adult children’s relationship with their father after his conviction, and the choreographer said, “I really don’t know. They’re adults now.”
“I have stepped away,” she explained. “When Robert, Jr. turned 18, I was like, ‘Whatever you decide from this point… If you want to call him, you don’t have to get permission. If you want to go visit him in jail, you don’t have to get my permission. You’re a young adult. Now, that is up to you.”
The longtime dancer’s opinion is that her relationship as Kelly’s ex-wife is different than being one of his children, which allows her to “separate” from him much easier. “They share DNA,” she said.
Drea, who maintains she keeps her ex-husband’s name because of her children, has spoken out about her daughter’s recent allegations in the documentary, saying she is proud of her daughter.
“To say I am proud of Joann Arielle Kelly does no justice for your level of bravery and courage @buku.abi you’re a voice for the voiceless. For those that are told you should be seen and NOT HEARD you speak,” Drea wrote in the comment section of a post promoting the series.
“Keep going and NEVER LOOK BACK PRETTY FACE. Your sister & brother are your team captains and I will be your cheerleader until my last breath! Because of YOU I am a survivor. I owe my life to you . I love you with my whole heart.”
Kelly, however, through his legal team, has issued a statement to People denying the accusations.
“Mr. Kelly vehemently denies these allegations. His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded…. And the ‘filmmakers,’ whoever they are, did not reach out to Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these hurtful claims,” attorney Jennifer Bonjean stated.
Kelly is currently serving a total of 31 years in prison. A federal judge sentenced “The Pied Piper of R&B” to 20 years in prison for child pornography and luring minors for sex, including his 14-year-old goddaughter. Many of his crimes were exposed in the six-part docuseries, “Surviving R. Kelly,” which revealed decades-worth of alleged sexual misconduct and abuse of underage girls and young women of color.
The court ruled that all but one year of the prison sentence would be served at the concurrently with a previous 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking, from his 2021 case in Brooklyn.
The two-episode “R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey” can be viewed on the TVEI Streaming Network.
