In new documentary, convicted R&B star R. Kelly’s daughter claims the singer sexually abused her as a child

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Former R&B singer R. Kelly’s daughter Buku Abi has accused her father of sexual abuse as a child.

In a new two-episode documentary R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s JourneyPremiering yesterday, 26-year-old Abi claimed she was abused by the singer as a child, first reporting it to her mother Andrea in 2009 when she was just 10 years old.

“He was my everything. For a long time I didn’t even want to believe it happened. I didn’t know he would hurt me even if he was a bad person.

“I was too afraid to tell anyone. I was too afraid to tell my mother.”

Abi, who was born Joann Kelly, did not elaborate on the abuse in the first episode, but said she believed prison was a “well-suited place” for Kelly, 57, according to her “personal statement Experience” knows.

“I really feel like that one millisecond completely changed my entire life and who I was as a person and how the shine that I had and the light that I carried was changed.”

“After I told my mother, I stopped going there; my brother [Robert] and sister [Jaah]We didn’t go there anymore. And even up to now I have a lot of trouble with it.”

In the second episode, she gave a detailed account of what she believes happened when she was 8 or 9 years old.

“I just remember waking up to him touching me.

“And I didn’t know what to do, so I just laid there and pretended to be asleep.”

Buku eventually told her mother what had happened and they went to the police and filed a report under the name “Jane Doe.”

“They couldn’t prosecute him because I waited too long. At that point in my life I felt like I had said something for nothing.”

In response, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said, “Mr. Kelly vehemently denies these allegations. His ex-wife made the same claim years ago, which was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and found to be unfounded.

“And the ‘filmmakers,’ whoever they are, have not contacted Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these hurtful allegations.”

In February 2023, Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Chicago for child pornography and enticing minors to have sex.

The year before, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking in New York.

He is currently serving 19 years of his two sentences concurrently and is eligible for release in 2045.

The Ignition (Remix) The singer was reportedly acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 after decades of allegations leveled against him People.

R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey follows his family as they try to move on with their lives after his arrest and conviction, and Abi prepares to welcome a child of his own.

Kelly’s ex-wife Andrea – who divorced the singer in 2009 and also accused him of abuse – and their children Jaah, 23, and Robert, 22, also appear in the documentary, as do Andrea’s parents Clifford and Melissa.

The first part of the series tells Andrea’s harrowing account of the night she left Kelly for good and took her three children from their home to their father Clifford, whom the children had never met before due to Kelly’s allegedly controlling behavior.

Buku revealed that she struggled with suicidal thoughts.

“I just got to the point where I didn’t care. I didn’t care whether I lived or died.

“I remember my mom and I went to Target one day 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 and she immediately dropped everything and asked, ‘What’s wrong? Are you okay?’

“She was really worried, and at that moment I broke down and had to tell her, ‘I don’t think I’m OK.’ I don’t think I can do it. “I don’t think I’ll survive the rest of my life,” she said.