In October, TVEI Streaming Network dropped a two-episode documentary, Karma: A Daughter’s Journey. In it, R Kelly's daughter Buku Abi opens up about the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. “I was too scared to tell anybody, I was too scared to tell my mom,” she said in part, “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... 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 I pretended to be asleep."
Abi continued, alleging that she and her mother Drea Kelly tried to file an anonymous police report. According to her, her father was allegedly not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had passed. Social media users quickly flooded her with words of support, but her mother didn't have the same experience.
Drea Kelly Says She Did Everything She Could Amid R Kelly's Alleged Abuse
During a recent interview with Carlos King, Drea addressed those who blamed her for her daughter's abuse after she came forward. She recalled allegedly going to the police after receiving a concerning call from Abi but being told there was nothing she could do to get her away from Kelly. "And that was probably the most painful experience of my life," she said. "Because I did everything that I could [...] I did everything I could just to have the police tell me I could do nothing. And my baby carried that pain around for years trying to protect me."
This isn't all Drea discussed during the interview, however. She also defended her decision to keep her ex's last name after they went their separate ways. She argued that she earned the right to it by birthing her children and contributing significantly to the choreography for Kelly's tours, music videos, and live performances.