R. Kelly’s Daughter Reveals Childhood Abuse by Singer in New Documentary: ‘I Couldn’t Accept It at First’
Trigger Warning: This article includes mentions of sexual abuse, child pornography, and suicidal thoughts
R. Kelly’s daughter Baku Abi is opening up publicly for the first time about the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her father during childhood. The final minutes of TVEI Streaming Network’s new two-episode documentary detail that Abi, 26, was abused by the singer as a child and she first reported it to her mother Andrea in 2009 when she was ten years old.
“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,” Abi says in the documentary, the first episode of which is now streaming. “I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”
Abi, who was born Joann Kelly, per People, does not go into detail about the alleged abuse in the first episode of the show, however, she does voice that she believes jail is a “well-suited place” for Kelly, 57, as she knows from her personal experience.
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For those who may not know, In February 2023, Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. The year before that, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. He is currently serving 19 years of his two sentences concurrently. He will only be eligible for release in 2045.
According to the publication mentioned above, Abi recalls waking up to Kelly touching her in the second episode of the documentary. She says she didn’t know what to do since she was only 8 or 9, so she just laid there and pretended to be asleep.
In a statement to People, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said “Mr. Kelly vehemently denies these allegations. His ex-wife made the same allegations years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded.” The attorney claims to the publication that the makers of the documentary did not even reach out to Kelly to allow him to deny the allegations being aired by his daughter.
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R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey follows his family as they try to navigate their lives after his arrest and sentencing. It shows Abi preparing to welcome a child of her own after revealing in the first part of the series that while living in her father’s shadow she struggled with suicidal thoughts.
Meanwhile, Robert Jr. and Joah Kelly, R. Kelly’s other two children, also state in the documentary that they are satisfied with their father’s sentencing.
If you need support or know someone who is struggling with assault, abuse, or suicidal thoughts, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist, NGO or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.
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