Reshona Landfair, an R.Kelly survivor, is breaking her silence for the first time.
In her first public interview with Rolling Stone, Landfair is telling her truth.
Landfair, who is set to release her memoir Who’s Watching Shorty?, spoke about being connected to Kelly’s crimes.
“There’s no job that I can apply for where this isn’t the forefront of my life. There’s no relationship I could be in where this isn’t the forefront of my life,” Landfair said. “[I felt] like I was losing power… If I just lay all of this out, I no longer have to explain myself. I no longer have to fear the whispers.”
Landfair went on to explain that she is being intentional by going public.
Landfair Was Deliberate By Going Public
“Once I realized that I didn’t have peace or privacy by hiding, I had to take ownership,” she said.
Landfair was just 14 years old when she was filmed in the now-infamous “pee tape.”The footage would become a key piece of evidence that eventually led to Kelly’s prosecution. Because of her appearance in the tape, Landfair said she wasn’t treated like a real person.
“I just really wanted to capture the fact that I was a human being,” she said. “I had dreams and aspirations. And I was not just the ‘R. Kelly girl.”
Landfair said her book “documents the mechanics of grooming, isolation, and control — how Kelly embedded himself in her family’s life. Also, how he “gained trust, and then slowly cut her off from everything else.” The book also chronicles “ years of manipulation, secrecy, and abuse, along with the shame that kept her silent.”
Landfair went on to share her encounter with Kelly in court during his trial in 2022.
“When he gave me a nasty look, it was confirmation that I was sitting in the right place,” Landfair recalled. “You think you’re untouchable and you’re still lying.”
Currently, Landfair works as a mentor to girls through her nonprofit Project Refine. Writing the book has allowed her to walk into a new chapter of her life.
“This is the beginning of my freedom officially,” Landfair said. “I’m looking forward to sharing my healing process and my testimony and letting that be freeing for somebody else.”