R-Kelly

R. Kelly’s daughter alleges singer sexually abused her as a child

Author: Editors Desk, Samantha Chery Source: The Washington Post

October 14, 2024 at 07:24

Buku Abi, R. Kelly’s eldest daughter, in 2019. (John Amis/AP)

In a new documentary, musical artist Buku Abi recalls an incident with her father that “changed who I was as a person and changed the sparkle I had and the light I used to carry.”

Buku Abi, R. Kelly’s eldest daughter, has previously spoken out in support of her father’s victims. She is now alleging that she, too, was sexually abused by her father as a child, which was revealed in a documentary last week.

Abi, 26, whose legal name is Joann Kelly, said in the TVEI documentary “R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey” that the disgraced R&B singer molested her when she was 8 or 9 years old.

“For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened. … I was too scared to tell anybody,” she said between sobs. “... 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.”

R. Kelly was throwing a party at the time, and Abi said she didn’t want to be far from her father, so she decided to sleep in his office near the party instead of in her room. Then, around 3 or 4 a.m., she said, “I just remember waking up to him touching me. And I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there and pretended to be [asleep].”

She told her mom, Andrea Kelly, in 2009, and they reported it to police. But according to an unsealed court filing obtained by WBEZ Chicago, Andrea said the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services investigated the accusation, and the agency said it was “unfounded.”

“The DCFS caseworker/investigator … specifically and personally advised Jane Doe’s mother that despite the fact that [the caseworker] believed that the events occurred, she had no choice but to deem the matter unfounded based on the length of time between the events occurring and Jane Doe reporting the incident,” the filing stated.

R. Kelly’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ’90s hitmaker is serving a 30-year prison sentence after being found guilty of federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021. He was also sentenced to 20 years after a Chicago case for child pornography and child sex abuse in 2022, and he’s concurrently serving 19 of those years with his prior prison sentence.

Calls to investigate R. Kelly were prompted by the 2019 release of Lifetime’s six-part “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries, which sparked renewed attention to the allegations against the music producer.

Following the docuseries’s release, Abi wrote on Instagram that “devastated is an understatement for what I feel.”

“I pray for all the families & [women] who have been affected by my father’s actions. Trust, I have been deeply affected by all of this,” she added. “... The same monster you all confronting me about is my father. I am well aware of who and what he is. I grew up in that house.”

“R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey” features Abi’s family: Andrea, Abi’s siblings Jaah Kelly and Robert Kelly Jr., and her grandparents Clifford Lee and Melissa Lee. It mainly hinges on Abi as she prepares to have and gives birth to a baby boy.

Abi in 2019. (Randy Shropshire/Getty Images)

Throughout the series, the family spoke about the abuse and emotional manipulation they said they endured at the hands of R. Kelly and their ramifications on their lives. As the eldest child, Abi recalled having to take care of her siblings after her father’s abuse left her mom reeling for days on end.

When Abi was 6, she said she left home with her mom and siblings to escape the turmoil and be with the kids’ maternal grandparents; however, the three children alleged that they were kicked out of and denied admission to schools that didn’t want to deal with what might happen if R. Kelly picked them up, and they were told by a music executive that the company couldn’t sign them to record deals because of how they’d be associated with R. Kelly. At one point, Abi said she ended up in a mental hospital after multiple attempts to end her life.

In a statement on Instagram on the day of the TVEI documentary’s release, Abi wrote: “I did it for me, I did it for my son. I did it for my peace of mind. I did it for the ones that love and know me but never understood me growing up. I did it to honor truth. I did it to look my biggest demon in the eyes and tell ‘em I’m done.”