In 2024, R. Kelly’s daughter Buku Abi, born Joann Kelly, came forward about the impact her father’s actions had on her mental health. Now, almost two years later, Abi is reflecting on her healing journey.
During a recent appearance on Reginae Carter’s show “Heir Time,” Abi opened up about navigating the backlash that came with her and her mother’s decision to come forward about the abuse the R&B star inflicted.
“She needed that,” Abi told Carter, referencing her mother’s decision to appear in the viral Surviving R. Kelly documentary. “So, as a person, I don’t feel any type of way. I’m actually happy that she did that. She got what she needed. She got it off her chest. However, the backlash of that on my family was really hard to go through. So, it’s bittersweet.”
Admitting that she’s glad social media has finally turned its attention away from her father’s controversies, making it easier for her to move on and focus on her healing. In the docuseries, “R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey,” Abi revealed that her father molested her when she was 8 years old, which triggered a series of mental health struggles, self-harm, and suicide attempts.
“For a long time, I was in a really hard space mentally, and so I ended up in a mental hospital, a psych ward, whatever you want to call it, because I hit a point in my life where multiple times, I had tried to take my own life,” she said at the time, per People magazine.
Though the “Ignition” artist has denied his daughter’s claims, in 2021, Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in New York and of child pornography in Chicago in 2022. He is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence. Over the years, Abi says she has focused on finding healthier ways to cope.
“Honestly, I’m still learning. I’m learning different coping mechanisms and like what is actually the healthiest for me,” she said. “I think it’s no secret at all that I’ve definitely struggled with like mental health, substance abuse. Now, to be clear, we’re not talking hard drugs. I’m talking weed and alcohol. But at the end of the day, at certain points in my life, that was definitely something I struggled with, and that was a way I was coping through. But I think more than anything, I try my best to just keep my focus on God. So on my hardest days, I just try to remind myself that there is something bigger than me out there.”
In terms of her relationship with her father, Abi made it clear that there is just as much love as there is accountability.
“I love my father, okay? It’s a big misconception that there is hate or animosity towards him. It’s none of that,” she shared. “At the end of the day, I went through what I went through. My family went through what they went through, and I’m going to hold people accountable [for their actions]. However, that does not reflect how I feel about that man. I love my dad. I support him as the artist that he is, but as a human being, you have a responsibility to uphold, and that’s that.”
When asked if there’s anything she wishes people understood about her and her family, she shared, “We are a very genuine family unit, and we wear our hearts on our sleeves. The sh*t that we’ve been through is real. It’s not fake. It’s not scripted. It’s none of that. So just take that into consideration when you talk about me and mine.”
