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R. Kelly‘s children and ex-wife, Andrea Kelly, have spoken out about their alleged experiences with the singer before and after his imprisonment. In a newly released documentary, his daughter, Buku Abi (real name Joann), recalls her dad allegedly touching her inappropriately as a child.
Meanwhile, Kelly’s lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean, has formally denied what Buku shared in the two-episode project, ‘Karma: A Daughter’s Journey.’
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Buku Abi Says Her Dad Touched Her At Age 8 Or 9
The documentary premiered on Oct. 11 on TVEI Streaming Network. As mentioned, it features all of his kids, including his sons Jay and Robert Jr. Jay was biologically born female, but he came out as transgender in 2014 at age 14. Andrea is the mother of all three of R. Kelly’s kids.
During the first episode of the documentary, Buku Abi opened up about not wanting to believe the sexual abuse occurred. She admitted to first telling her mother about it in 2009 when she was 10. However, before telling Andrea, Buku said she felt “too scared to tell anyone.”
“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,” R. Kelly’s daughter said.
Buku Abi says after she told her mother what happened, she and her siblings didn’t go to her dad’s anymore. However, the incident continues to be something she struggles with a lot. “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 said.
The second episode sees Buku Abi describing the alleged abuse and how she reacted. She cried while explaining.
“I just remember waking up to him touching me,” Abi recalled. “And I didn’t know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep.”
Ultimately, Joanne said her father couldn’t be prosecuted after she and her mom filed a police report because she had “waited too long” to speak. “So at that point in my life, I felt like I said something for nothing,” she shared.
R. Kelly’s Lawyer Reacts To The Documentary Allegations
As mentioned, Kelly’s lawyer, Bonjean, released a statement to PEOPLE about Buku Abi’s allegations on the singer’s behalf. Bonjean said these allegations had previously been investigated and could not be proven.
“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.”
Also, his sons and Buku all shared in the docuseries that they believe Kelly being in prison is where he belongs. “If you don’t want to go to jail, don’t do s**t that gets you locked up,” Robert Jr. stated. While Jay stated, “You make your bed, you lay in it.” Meanwhile, Buku said that jail is a “well-suited” place for her father.
Daughter Says She’s Previously Had Suicidal Thoughts
Additionally, in ‘Karma: A Daughter’s Journey,’ Buku Abi said she previously felt suicidal. “I just got to a point where I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care if I lived or died,” she said. Abi confessed her thoughts to her mother after a cutting incident at Target.
“I remember one day, my mom and I, we went to Target and I had to use the bathroom. We went to the bathroom and she came out and I was washing my hands and she saw that my wrists were all cut up, and she just immediately dropped everything…”
Joanne Kelly said Andrea kept inquiring if she was okay while being “really worried.” She responded by breaking down and admitting she wasn’t okay and felt like her life was going to be cut short.
“I don’t think that I’m gonna make it through to live out the rest of my life,” Buku said she told her mother.
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