R. Kelly Had Sex With An Underaged Aaliyah and Members of His Entourage Witnessed It, Claims Former Backup Singer

In Lifetime’s new documentary Surviving R. Kelly many interviewed bring forth strong accusations against him alleging sexual misconduct that dates back to the early ’90s and his relationship with late R&B star Aaliyah.

The shocking 6-part docu-series is built upon wide-ranging interviews with many of R. Kelly’s former friends, family members and colleagues, but most notably, women who claim that for decades the hit-making singer and producer used his power and influence to sexually and physically abuse women and young girls.

The documentary’s first episode, airing Thursday, Jan. 3, includes an emotional interview with former backup singer Jovante Cunningham, who met R. Kelly at age 14 and claims she bore direct witness to his sexual encounters with underaged girls in the ’90s, including his one-time protégée Aaliyah Haughton.

“Aaliyah was very tom-boyish, glasses, braces, no swag,” Jovante describes of meeting the 12-year old Aaliyah who became acquainted with R. Kelly through her uncle Barry Hankerson, his manager at the time.

“She truly was a beautiful young lady. We used to sneak Aaliyah out of the hotel room and take her all over the place,” she says. Aaliyah would go on to make it big with her debut R. Kelly-penned single “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.” “Those were the good old days,” says the former backup singer, “but those are the things that also make you cry.”

During her interview, Jovante breaks down recalling when she claims to have discovered her boss R. Kelly, then 27, and Aaliyah, then age 15, had a sexual relationship.

“We were out on the road with Aaliyah,” she says. “On a tour bus, there really aren’t many confined spaces. When you get on the bus there are bunks and so these bunks have little curtains you can pull at night if you don’t want anybody to see you sleeping.”

“So it just so happened we were all laying in our bunks and the curtains are open, everybody’s communicating, laughing,” she continues. “When the room door flew open on the bus. Robert was having sex with Aaliyah.”

When asked what she saw, Jovante responds:

“Things that an adult should not be doing with a child.” She adds, “I can’t stress to you how people are still suffering behind things that went on 20 years ago.”

In 1994 it was widely reported that R. Kelly and Aaliyah had secretly gotten married and news outlets made public a marriage certificate that listed Aaliyah’s age as 18, though she would have been 15 at the time.
R. Kelly and Aaliyah never addressed the reports about the nature of their relationship, but in the documentary, his former personal assistant Demetrius Smith claims he was present at the wedding and admits to obtaining false documents for underaged Aaliyah.

“Robert came to me, we were in Miami,” recalls Demetrius. “Robert said, ‘Man we got Aaliyah in trouble’.” After asking what was the problem, he says he got a heartbreaking answer: “Robert mentioned to me that ‘I think she’s pregnant’. That broke my heart right there because I really believed him when he said that he wasn’t messing with Aaliyah..Once he told me that I was at a loss for words.” wedding dresses for pregnant women

Demetrius goes on to claim, “I was in the room when they got married. I’m not proud of that. I had papers forged for them when Aaliyah was underaged. It was just a quick little ceremony, she didn’t have on a white dress he didn’t have on a tux. Just every day wear. She looked worried and scared.”
The marriage was reportedly annulled within the year. “Her parents had the last say,” he says.

Aaliyah’s career continued to soar until she died tragically in a plane crash in 2001.

R. Kelly also continued to top the charts, but in 2002 he was indicted after a video surfaced allegedly showing a man engaged in sex acts with a woman who some witnesses testified was 14 at the time of the recording. Both R. Kelly and the woman denied that the video was of them, and R. Kelly was never charged with assault. In 2008, R. Kelly was found not guilty on 21 counts of child pornography.

A report from BuzzFeed Ne< his “rules.” Amid these allegations — which have never led to formal charges — women’s rights organization Time’s Up along with stars like Ava DuVernay and John Legend have called for a boycott of his music with # MuteRKelly .