R. Kelly Survivor Speaks on Trauma Caused by His First Trial

Reshona Landfair opens up about the trauma she endured after her face and body were shown over and over again in R. Kelly's 2008 trial...

From The NY Post

Being abused by R. Kelly for years was traumatic enough for Reshona Landfair. But what happened to her in court during singer R. Kelly’s six-year child p0rn0graphy trial in the 2000s was another kind of horror.

Landfair, the author of new memoir “Who Was Watching Shorty: Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse,” out now, says neither her name nor likeness were redacted from legal documents — or concealed during courtroom proceedings — as Kelly, nèe Robert Sylvester Kelly, faced and was acquitted of charges stemming from a graphic video filmed in the late 1990s.

Troubling footage showing her nude body, submitted into evidence and shown repeatedly, featured the “Down Low” singer, then in his 30s, ur***ating on a 14-year-old Landfair’s face. She did not testify against Kelly at trial, which ultimately resulted in a not guilty verdict.

Across the pages of her tome, the Chicagoan details the trauma she claims to have endured, first at the hands of Kelly — and then the legal system.

“I felt disgusted,” Landfair writes, describing the alleged illicit exploit. “I was still a virgin at that point, and I didn’t know too much sexually, but I knew this felt horribly wrong.”

“I was just his puppet at that point.”

In her book, Landfair claims she’d never watched the vile tape until she testified against Kelly during his 2022 racketeering and six crimes trial. But she writes that, as a minor, she quickly learned that her ID and underage frame was not protected by the powers that be in the ‘08 case.

“Since my name was not redacted during Robert’s 2008 trial, that meant my first and last names were in everybody’s mouth, both in the courtroom and out,” Landfair pens. “The only minor saving grace was that people didn’t know how to spell my name.”