Johannesburg - Andrea Kelly – who was married to RnB singer R Kelly for 13 years – recently got candid on camera about the alleged abuse she faced in their marriage, during an interview on The View.
R Kelly who alluded to sleeping with young girls as well as being raped as a child in a 19 minute song, is no stranger to making headlines about abuse allegations.
Andrea and R Kelly have been divorced for 10 years but now the 44-year-old mother-of-three has come out to speak about her years married to the singer.
Speaking to the co-hosts of the talk show she said she had decided to come forward following the recent accounts of sexual violence and abuse made by several women against her ex-husband.
“You cannot not speak when someone's life and what they've been through is parallel to yours,” said Andrea.
“I wanted to bring validity to these women's stories...So much of it falls on deaf ears and no one believes them...I was like, 'If no one else is going to speak up for her, if no one else is going to believe her, at least she knows that I do.'”
Andrea then proceeded to detail an incident which allegedly happened in the back of a Hummer vehicle, she said that R Kelly allegedly pulled her left arm behind her back while pushing his forearm into her neck,
“I said, 'Robert, you're going to kill me. I can't breathe,'" she said. "I just thought, 'Oh, my God. I'm going to die in the back of this Hummer.'”
Andrea then continues to remember another alleged incident in which she explains how the 51-year-old singer tied her legs and arms behind her back and then leaving her on the bed in that positon before he eventually fell asleep.
This is not the first time the professional dancer has spoken publicly about the alleged abuse that occurred while she was married to R Kelly. This was the first time Andrea broke down during a TV appearance as she recalled the abuse she claims she suffered for years.
While on the show Andrea also admitted to being victimized by the public when she spoke out about the alleged abuse while with R Kelly,
“People actually said, 'She's coming out because she needs money' or 'she didn't say anything because she got money,'" she said.
“There's not enough money in the world for any woman to stay and get abused.”
Even though Andrea claimed that she no longer spoke to R Kelly— she also confessed that it was when she had climbed on a balcony and was contemplating suicide did she realize it was time to leave the relationship.
“I went out on the balcony and I climbed up...One foot was on the railing and the other was on the wall...I looked down and God allowed me to see myself laying in blood,” she said recalling her darkest hour.
“That was my darkest moment...The fact that I was willing to leave [my children] let me know the best thing you have to do for you and your children to live is leave.”
Watch the full interview of Andrea Kelly on The View:
