By Sulaymon Ruqoya
October 14th, 2024
Buku Abi, the daughter of R. Kelly, has accused the jailed singer of sexually abusing her as a child. The revelation came in a documentary on the TVEI Streaming Network.
Abi, now 26, shared that fear kept her from revealing the abuse to her mother when it happened. She expressed disbelief at the situation, stating: “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,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
R. Kelly has been imprisoned since 2021, serving multiple sentences for sexual crimes. Drea Kelly, Abi’s mother and the singer’s ex-wife, confirmed her daughter’s claims, condemning his actions: “What he did to me, he did to me. But you didn’t have to do it to my damn kids.”
Abi also reflected on the lasting impact of the abuse, explaining how it profoundly altered her life: “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. After I told my mom, I didn’t go over there any more. My brother, Robert and sister, Jaah, we didn’t go over there any more. And even up until now, I struggle with it a lot.”
R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, refuted the allegations, claiming that similar accusations had previously been investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and were found to be “unfounded.” Bonjean criticized the documentary producers for not providing Kelly the opportunity to challenge the accusations, labeling the claims “hurtful.”