 |
| Image: Unilad |
New allegations are popping up against American R & B singer R. Kelly, and recently, he was said to have married and silenced 15-year-old Aaliyah and her family using a non-disclosure agreement.
According to Variety, the fresh accusations were released in the episode of “Surviving R. Kelly” on Lifetime, aired on January 2 and January 3.
The focus of the docuseries was the 2022 federal trial of R. Kelly, in which the NDA was used as evidence. Jane Doe #1 in the trial was the late Aaliyah.
After years of the media and music industry scandalizing her marriage to the now-convicted artist in the 1990s, “Surviving R. Kelly” uses Aaliyah’s tale to highlight her as a victim of R. Kelly.
In August 1994, the couple got married secretly, and Aaliyah was 15 at the time. However, her age was misrepresented on the marriage license as being 18. Aaliyah’s parents declared the union null and void in February 1995.
In the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” many from R. Kelly’s camp who were there when the couple were married express their remorse about the union in on-camera interviews.
People who knew R. Kelly and Aaliyah well reveal additional information regarding the allegedly fabricated contract between R. Kelly and Aaliyah’s family.
In “Surviving R. Kelly,” Gem Pratt, a former security guard and boyhood friend of R. Kelly, claims that Aaliyah’s father was enraged by the union and compelled the annulment.
Pratt claims that Aliyah’s family entered into a legal agreement with him that guaranteed they wouldn’t pursue legal action against him for the illegitimate union once it was dissolved. In exchange, R. Kelly allegedly gave Aaliyah’s family a financial incentive by selling them the rights to his first three albums.
R. Kelly’s New York trial in 2022 included the NDA, although there was little media attention to it. The use of NDAs in sexual harassment cases, particularly at work, has grown to be a contentious topic, underscoring 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 before R. Kelly’s trial by writer Jim DeRogatis, who broke the story of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse more than two decades ago.
DeRogatis revealed in an interview a few years ago that the annulment and Aaliyah’s legal case against R. Kelly had been sealed in relation to the documents that were revealed to him.
He said, “It’s a harrowing document.
“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; he hit her, allegedly, according to that court document.”
Source: vanguardngr.com
#R. Kelly
#Aliyah
No comments:
Post a Comment