Buku Abi, the 26-year-old daughter of R. Kelly, has broken her silence about alleged childhood abuse by her father in a new two-part documentary, “Karma: A Daughter’s Journey,” which debuted on October 11.
In the documentary, Abi reveals she first disclosed the alleged abuse to her mother Andrea in 2009 when she was 10 years old. “He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened,” Abi says, expressing her initial reluctance to accept the situation.
While the first episode doesn’t provide specific details of the alleged abuse, Abi states that she believes prison is an appropriate place for her 57-year-old father, based on her “personal experience.” She describes the profound impact of the alleged incident on her life and personality.
The second episode contains more explicit allegations. Abi recounts an incident from when she was 8 or 9 years old, saying, “I just remember waking up to him touching me.” She claims that after telling her mother, they filed a police report under the name “Jane Doe,” but no prosecution followed due to the delay in reporting.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, has issued a statement to People magazine denying these allegations. Bonjean states that similar claims were previously investigated by Illinois authorities and found to be unsubstantiated. She also notes that the filmmakers did not contact Kelly or his team for comment.
Kelly is currently serving concurrent sentences for multiple convictions related to child pornography, sex trafficking, and racketeering. He is expected to remain in prison until at least 2045.
