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Aaliyah File Photos

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New information about disgraced singer R. Kelly’s problematic past with women has come to the surface once again. The third and final installment of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, revealed that Kelly made an agreement with Aaliyah’s family to prevent them from pressing charges against him following his decision to marry the late singer when she was only 15 years old. 

According to Variety, a nondisclosure agreement between Kelly and Aaliyah’s family was found during Kelly’s 2022 federal trial. Kelly was convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking, and child pornography in 2022. 

Individuals in the Lifetime docuseries illuminated an agreement that was allegedly forged between Kelly and Aaliyah’s family that stated that Aaliyah’s family wouldn’t press charges against Kelly if Kelly sold the rights to his first three albums to the teenage singer’s family.

Allegedly, Aaliyah’s family agreed to receive a financial compensation from Kelly in exchange for keeping the annulled marriage under wraps. Aaliyah’s family members declined to participate in the Lifetime series.

The docuseries which had its final part air Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, portrayed Aaliyah’s relationship with her abuser. The young teen star was first introduced to Kelly when she was 14 by her uncle Barry Hankerson. 

Kelly would later become a lead songwriter and producer on Aaliyah’s 1994 debut album Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. The abusive relationship escalated to marriage when documents were falsified to say that a 15-year-old Aaliyah was 18 years old. Kelly was 27 at the time. Aaliyah’s family would later annul the marriage in 1995. 

The concluding episodes of the docuseries shed light on the enablers in Kelly’s camp who seemingly ignored, allowed, and in some ways contributed to R. Kelly’s abuse of underage girls for 30 years.

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