R. Kelly’s daughter Buku Abi accused him of sexually abusing her in a documentary titled R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey. Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said he “vehemently denies these allegations” in response to the doc, which premiered on Friday (October 11).
“His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded,” Kelly’s lawyer said. “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.”
TVEI released R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey as a two-part documentary. Abi, who was born Joann Kelly, said her father molested her when she was 8 or 9 years old.
“I just remember waking up to him touching me,” she tearfully said. “And I didn’t know what to do. So, I just kind of laid there and I pretended to be asleep.”
Abi said she was “too scared to tell anybody” after it happened. She eventually told her mother about the incident in 2009 when she was 10 years old.
“After I told my mom, I didn’t go over [to Kelly’s home] anymore,” Abi said. “My brother and sister, we didn’t go over there anymore. And even up until now, I struggle with it a lot.”
Abi and her mother Drea Kelly tried to file a police report. Abi identified herself as Jane Doe in the complaint.
“They couldn’t prosecute him because I waited too long,” she explained in the documentary. “So, at that point in my life, I felt like I said something for nothing.”
Kelly was convicted of child pornography, child enticement, racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021 and 2022. He was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal on Monday (October 7).