R. Kelly and Andrea Kelly have been divorced for nearly a decade, but she is still haunted by the memories of the singer’s alleged abusive behavior during their 13-year marriage.
“I remember one time he attacked me in the back of a Hummer, and I do suffer from PTSD because of it,” the choreographer, 44, claimed during an appearance on The View on Thursday, October 4. “I thought I was gonna die in the back of the Hummer because of what he had done. He’d taken this left arm and pulled it behind me and his weight was on my body, but he didn’t realize his forearm was on my neck. So as he’s pressing down, my breathing is getting labored.”
Her voice breaking, Andrea continued, “The only reason why I think I made it out [alive] is because I said, ‘Robert, you’re gonna kill me. I can’t breathe. You have to get your arm off of my neck.’ And I just remember sitting in the back of the Hummer and it got blue, and I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m gonna die in the back of this Hummer and he’s gonna drive off with my body in the backseat and nobody’s gonna know.’”
The dancer recalled another incident in which she claimed Kelly “hogtied” her on their bed before he fell asleep, leaving her to escape on her own. She said the alleged abuse became so bad that she once considered ending her life.
“I tried to commit suicide,” Andrea admitted. “It was after an incident with my youngest daughter, Joann, who actually gave me the strength to leave. We were looking at some pictures and, the long and short of it is, he was being belligerent with me, and my daughter goes, ‘Daddy, why are you being mean to my mom? Why are you talking to her that way?’ … So I knew I had to be a living example for my daughter, but even in that moment of strength, there was a moment of weakness when I left the room.”
Andrea recalled walking out to the balcony of the couple’s home and climbing up on top of the railing. “I looked down down, and God allowed me to see myself laying in blood,” she said between tears. “I just remember hearing my kid’s voice in the background, saying, ‘Mama, Mama. Why did she jump?’ And that was my darkest moment because as a mom, when you’re willing to leave your babies without their mom, that is your lowest low because as a mom, you live for your children.”
Kelly and Andrea (who share daughter Joann, 20, and sons Jay, 18, and Robert Jr., 16) were married from 1996 to 2009. She filed a restraining order against him after they separated in 2005, and they still do not speak to this day.
The three-time Grammy winner has faced multiple accusations of improper conduct for decades. In 1994, he married Aaliyah when they were 27 and 15 years old, respectively. Their union was annulled a year later at the behest of the late singer’s family members. Between 1996 and 2002, Kelly settled lawsuits with three teenage girls after they accused him of inappropriate sexual contact. In 2008, he stood trial on 14 counts of child pornography, but he was acquitted of all charges.
More recently, Kelly was accused in a 2017 BuzzFeed News report of holding multiple women against their will at his home near Atlanta. In response, his attorney, Linda Mensch, told Us Weekly that he “unequivocally denies such allegations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Kelly’s attorney. The View said his team declined to comment.
If you or someone you know are being abused, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) for anonymous, confidential help, available 24/7.
