R. Kelly’s Daughter Buku Abi Claims He Sexually Abused Her as a Child

R. Kelly's daughter, Buku Abi, claimed in a new docuseries that she was sexually abused by her father as a child.

"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, 26, said in the first episode of the two-part documentary Karma: A Daughter's Journey, which is available to watch on the TVEI Network. "I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom."

Abi (real name: Joann Kelly) ultimately told her mom, Drea Kelly, about the alleged incident in 2009 when she was 10 years old. In the second part of the doc, Abi opened up about the alleged abuse, which she said happened when she was around 8 or 9 years old.

“I just remember waking up to him touching me,” she claimed. “And I didn't know what to do, so I just kind of laid there, and I pretended to be asleep.”

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After Abi told her mom about the alleged incident, she and her siblings Robert Kelly Jr. and Jaah Kelly, stopped visiting their dad following his split from Drea. (R. Kelly, 57, and Drea divorced in 2009 after 13 years of marriage.)

"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," she reflected. "After I told my mom, I didn't go over there anymore; my brother and sister we didn't go over there anymore. And even up until now I struggle with it a lot."

Abi shared that she and her mom also went to the police and filed an anonymous complaint. However, nothing came from it since she "waited too long."

“They couldn't prosecute him because I waited too long," she claimed. "So at that point in my life, I felt like I said something for nothing.”

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R. Kelly, who is currently in jail serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of child pornography and enticement, has denied Abi's allegations.

"Mr. Kelly vehemently denies these allegations. His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded," the musician's attorney Jennifer Bonjean said in a statement to People on Friday, October 11. "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.”

After receiving his federal conviction in 2022, R. Kelly appealed the ruling. In October, the Supreme Court declined to hear the disgraced musician’s case and upheld the decision.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.

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This story was originally published October 11, 2024, 1:10 PM.