EXCLUSIVE: Drea Kelly Says ‘Me Telling My Story Is Not Diminishing R. Kelly’s Legacy’

Drea Kelly, R.Kelly

EXCLUSIVE: Drea Kelly Says ‘Me Telling My Story Is Not Diminishing R. Kelly’s Legacy’

Drea Kelly said she doesn’t understand why people have an issue with her mentioning her ex-husband R. Kelly while talking about her journey. The professional dancer exclusively shared with theJasmineBRAND that R. Kelly is a part of her life story, and when she does interviews, you can’t mention her personal life without including the disgraced singer.

“I’m not always talking about him, I’m always talking about my journey. Unfortunately he was apart of the journey, so you can’t have one without the other.  Again, like you said it’s one of those things where people can break up and you move on, in some people’s mind I will forever will R. Kelly’s ex wife. And that is fine I don’t have a problem with that.”

Drea Kelly, R.Kelly

Drea Kelly adds that it bothers her when people try to discredit her journey because they want to support R. Kelly.

“What I have a problem with is, you attack me and you kinda discount my journey just because you support him. I don’t have a problem honey you can support him til the day he die.  If you want to buy his albums, that’s your business,  I don’t care. But that doesn’t then give you a right to attack me because you support him.  Have our opinion that is fine, but I know that that’s something that I will never get away from just because it was so tumultuous, so toxic, and shocking.”

She added that it is hard for some people to accept that R. Kelly has another side to him that the public hasn’t seen.

“And I get it, because when you look at somebody that’s an icon in your community, you don’t want to accept that there’s a possibility that there is in another side to him. You don’t want to accept that somebody that, as we all say, ‘made it out the hood’ can be flawed. But as humans we are. And we need to accept that. The faster we accept that I think the more people will be be able to accept my journey and know, that me helping others is not trying to hurt him.”

Drea Kelly says that telling her story is solely to help other women, not put down R. Kelly‘s history and success.

“Me telling my story is not to diminish his legacy, it’s to help other women who have been in it, I have to tell my story in order for them to connect to it. In order for them to not feel alone.  What ya’ll want me to say, just be like ‘Yea I was abused but you gone be okay?’ What does that do? So people really need to get over it.”

In closing, she says that she is just answering the questions that reporters ask.

“Ya’ll can’t be mad at me for the questions journalists ask, every interview I do, they ask me about him. And guess what? I’m going to answer. They act like I send ya’ll the questions.”

Check out the clip below:

What are your thoughts on Drea Kelly saying that her journey is attached to R. Kelly, and talking about it isn’t to diminish his legacy? Let us know in the comments!