Joann Kelly, the daughter of R. Kelly, has alleged the imprisoned singer sexually abused her as a child.
In a new two-part documentary series for the TVEI Streaming Network, Joann, also known as Buku Abi, said she first reported the alleged abuse to her mother Drea in 2009.
“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 he would do something to me,” the 26-year-old detailed in an episode of the documentary titled ‘Karma: A Daughter’s Journey’.
“I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”
Although Joann did not share details of the alleged abuse, she said she believes the 57-year-old singer’s jail sentence is well-deserved.
“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,” she continued.
“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.”
The documentary trailer also includes emotional interviews with Abi’s siblings, Jaah and Robert Kelly Jr. and Drea, their mother, who said: “What he did to me, he did to me. But you didn’t have to do it to my damn kids”.
However, Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lawyer, issued a statement to PEOPLE “vehemently” denying the allegations.
“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,” the statement reads.
Abi is one of Kelly’s three children with ex-wife Drea. The pair was married from 1996 to 2009.
In February 2023, the R&B singer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on child pornography and enticement charges.
The three-time Grammy award winner will serve the years concurrently with a prior 30-year prison sentence from a separate case in New York on July 29, 2022.
The singer, best known for the 1996 smash hit ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, has consistently denied wrongdoings.