R. Kelly victim compares lies to army drill

Reshona Landfair, who at 14 became the protagonist of a scandalous video, has detailed for the first time the abuse she suffered at the hands of singer R. Kelly in her memoir. According to her, the musician, now serving time for crimes against children, forced her to lie to police, child protective services, and a grand jury about their relationship.

Landfair compares the preparation for interrogations to army drill. She claims that Kelly spent long days with her rehearsing a false version of events and making her repeat answers until they were perfect.

«It was long days of rehearsals, long days of manipulation,» the publication quotes her as saying. «Until you get it right. Until he feels you can walk out the door and present it exactly as he wants.»

According to the woman, this pressure left her feeling that there was no safe adult nearby to whom she could entrust the truth. She feared that any mistake would lead to punishment from Kelly and chaos in the family.

The book also describes how the singer controlled her life, creating conditions akin to house arrest in tour buses and studios. Landfair writes that under this pressure, she first denied the facts of abuse and then told the grand jury that the person in the video was not her.

These events, Landfair says, heavily impacted her adult life. She constantly feared that colleagues, friends, or partners would recognize her as «the girl from that video» and condemn her for the lies she was forced to tell as a teenager.

She describes her decision to tell the story now as an attempt to regain her name and peace. «If I just put it all out there, I won»t have to justify myself anymore. I won«t have to fear whispers around the table anymore,» she says.