The infamous “pee tape” that allegedly captured R. Kelly urinating on an underage female and the singer’s subsequent child pornography trial form the center of the next episodes of the explosive Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, with those who knew the 14-year-old in the sex tape speaking out in these exclusive clips from tonight’s episodes.
“R. Kelly would come to some [high school] basketball games. I would see him in the stands,” Raven Gingler, a childhood friend of the young girl, says in the third episode. “It almost seemed like a doting father when R. Kelly would see her.”
Sparkle, an R&B singer and aunt of the underage girl, introduced Kelly to the alleged victim, a meeting that still “haunts” her. “I should never have introduced her to him,” an emotional Sparkle says in the Surviving R. Kelly clip, adding of the sex tape, “I’d hear things but to see it visually, and she was so young, it fucked me up.”
Kelly was ultimately found not guilty of all charges in his child pornography trial, but the singer still allegedly attempted to salvage his reputation by having Sparkle speak positively on his behalf. Despite a generous offer, she refused.
“Robert’s legal team was basically trying to say that I was out for money and I was bitter,” Sparkle said in the fourth episode. “They offered me upwards of high six figures for me and Robert to have a sit-down with all media around us to say that ‘Robert and I are okay, we’re kumbaya.’ I didn’t take the money because I can’t be bought. I’m gonna stand up for my family.”
Following its two-episode premiere Thursday night, the six-part Surviving R. Kelly resumes Friday night with two more episodes, “Sex Tape Scandal” and “The People vs. R. Kelly.” The docuseries concludes Saturday, January 5th.