R. Kelly’s Daughter, Joanne Kelly, Says She Refuses To Take Her Son To Visit Her Father In Prison

R. Kelly‘s daughter, Joann Kelly, revealed why she wants to keep her son as far away as possible from her father in an upcoming documentary, R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey.

The trailer for the film was released. In it, Joann divulges how her father’s crimes led her to keep a watchful eye over her son. 

“If my son asks questions, I’m going to be as truthful as possible. And I will not be taking my son to prison to meet his grandfather,” Joanne said in the clip, appearing pregnant. 

When it comes to her relationship with her father, Joann mentioned how his trafficking crimes turned her life inside out. 

“Nobody wants to be the child of the father that is out here hurting women and children,” Joann said. “He knows exactly why we can’t have the relationship that we would have liked to have with him.”

The soon-to-be mom looked back on her relationship with her father. “He was my everything,” she said. “For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe it happened. I didn’t know that, even if he was a bad person, that he would do something to me.”

After her father was convicted, she claimed, “I really feel like that one millisecond completely just changed my whole life.” 

Joann’s mother, Drea Kelly, also expressed concern about the disgraced artist’s absence from their children’s lives. 

“Just because you’re not a good husband, doesn’t mean you can’t be a good father,” Drea said of Kelly, noting that “he didn’t even try.” 

“What he did to me, he did to me. But you didn’t have to do it to my damn kids,” she continued.

In 2021, the musician was convicted of racketeering and trafficking charges by a federal jury. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The following year, Kelly was convicted on six counts. A judge later sentenced him to 20 years, with 19 years to run jointly with his prior 30-year sentence. 

R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey is set to release Oct. 11 on the Tvei Network.