Robert Sylvester Kelly, better known as R. Kelly, an American singer, has faced new allegations that he married and silenced 15-year-old Aaliyah and her family through a non-disclosure agreement.
According to Variety, the recent allegations were made in an episode of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly,” which will air on January 2 and 3. The docuseries focused on R. Kelly’s 2022 federal trial, in which the NDA was used as evidence. The late Aaliyah was Jane Doe #1 in the trial.
“Surviving R. Kelly” uses Aaliyah’s story to highlight her as a victim of R. Kelly after years of the media and music industry scandalizing her marriage to the now-convicted artist in the 1990s.
The couple married in secret in August 1994. Aaliyah was 15 at the time, but her age was misrepresented on the marriage license as 18. In February 1995, Aaliyah’s parents declared the marriage null and void.
In the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” many members of R. Kelly’s camp who were present when the couple married express their regret in on-camera interviews.
People who knew R. Kelly and Aaliyah will reveal new details about the allegedly forged contract between R. Kelly and Aaliyah’s family. Gem Pratt, a former security guard and childhood friend of R. Kelly, claims in “Surviving R. Kelly” that Aaliyah’s father was enraged by the union and forced the annulment.
Pratt claims that R. Kelly’s family made a legal agreement with him that guaranteed they would not sue him for the illegitimate union once it was dissolved. R. Kelly allegedly gave Aaliyah’s family a financial incentive in exchange for selling them the rights to his first three albums.
The NDA was mentioned in R. Kelly’s New York trial in 2022, but it received little media attention. The use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in sexual harassment cases, particularly at work, has become a contentious issue, highlighting the power disparity that results from the offender or businesses silencing victims through compelled legal papers.
The NDA that R. Kelly used against Aaliyah was discovered by writer Jim DeRogatis, who broke the story of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse more than two decades ago.
In an interview a few years ago, DeRogatis revealed that the annulment and Aaliyah’s legal case against R. Kelly had been sealed due to the documents that were revealed to him.
“It’s a harrowing document,” he said.
“A non-disclosure agreement on both her part and Kelly’s, vowing not to pursue further legal claims for physical abuse. So it wasn’t just an underage sexual relationship; according to the court document, he allegedly hit her.”
