Drea Kelly the Ex-wife of R. Kelly spoke out following the verdict that was handed down to the R&B Singer On Monday.
Andrea Danyell Lee – married R Kelly in 1996 at just 22 years old and before their marriage, she was his backup, dancer.
The couple shares three children together daughters Joann and Jaah, and son Robert Jr – born in 1998, 2000, and 2002 respectively.
In September of 2005, she filed for divorce after almost 10 years of marriage and it was finalized 3 years later in 2009
Drea said she was sad it would take this long for justice to be served and that she had always said that if the victims were blond-haired or blue-eyed, it would not have taken such a long time.
She also gave some insight on what this is like for her as a mother and what it is like for her children who have to live with this legacy.
Via The Daily Mail, she shared:
My heart definitely goes out to the survivors and the courage that it takes to come forward and tell the story, but my heart breaks as a mother because this is now the legacy that my children will have to deal with and their children’s children.
‘At the end of the day, you cannot walk away from your blood line,’ she explained. ‘I have the ability to separate and distance myself from it, but his blood runs through my children’s veins and it’s part of their DNA and they couldn’t escape it even if they wanted to.
So it’s very difficult for me to sit in that position.’
The 54-year-old Kelly faces up to 100 years in prison – 20 years for racketeering, 10 for each of the sex trafficking convictions.
Sentencing is expected to take place on May 4, 2022.
‘I can only speak of my journey as his ex-wife and a survivor and an advocate, but I think that goes for any child,’ Drea Kelly told ITV.
‘It doesn’t matter if your parents have a problem with drug addiction – you are still going to love them because they are a part of your DNA, you share blood with them.
‘I also support my children in whatever they feel because at the end of the day, whether he ever sold another song, found guilty or not guilty, what is true and what will always be true is that it’s their father, so they have the right to feel whatever they feel,’ she added.
Watch the video below:
[…] daughter, Joann Kelly, said that she would love her father from a distance and Andrea said she fully supports her children. Whichever way they choose to process the ordeal, they have a right to feel whatever they feel, she […]