Lifetime has responded to Drea Kelly’s threat to sue the network over her appearance in the latest trailer for the second installment of Surviving R. Kelly Part Two: The Reckoning.
Much has transpired since the six-part docuseries debuted with a viewership of 26 million, including multiple federal and state indictments against R. Kelly. The series included the voices of 50 of the singer’s alleged victims and survivors who claimed the R&B star sexually and physically abused them and their families.
Surviving R. Kelly Part Two: The Reckoning will explore the impact of the original docuseries that aired last January, while also including interviews with new survivors, psychologists and experts on R. Kelly’s legal troubles.
But when the Lifetime dropped the trailer for the next round of the mini-series, Kelly’s ex-wife Drea threatened to sue. She is briefly featured wearing the same pink blazer and blue jeans she wore in the first documentary.
“I hope she feels differently after she sees it,” Lifetime Senior Vice President and Surviving R. Kelly executive producer Brie Miranda Bryant told Page Six. “The pieces that were in the trailer are from her interview in part one. She did not sit for part two.”
Kelly also claimed that Lifetime did not offer aftercare for the survivors who participated in the first documentary, according to TMZ. But Bryant defended the network’s support offerings for the victims.
“We had two therapists who were able to consult with the survivors and participants after every interview who were there throughout the duration [of production],” she said. “We have, it may have hit 23 advocacy groups that have helped us during the making of the series to make sure we were staying within proper parameters.”
“Even decisions in terms of how we speak of these women: ‘are you a survivor’ or ‘are you a victim?’ These are conversations we really had to have,” she continued. “How do they view themselves? What’s the appropriate lens for that? We’ve tried to take it as seriously as possible. First and foremost, it’s about the survivors feeling heard and getting them the justice they feel that they need.”
Surviving R. Kelly Part Two: The Reckoning premieres January 2 on Lifetime.
