Andrea Kelly, R. Kelly’s Ex: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Andrea Kelly, Drea Kelly

Twitter Andrea 'Drea' Kelly

Andrea Kelly says in an emotional interview that she was close to suicide before she acknowledged she was a victim of alleged domestic violence at the hands of her ex, R Kelly. And she gives advice to the family of Jocelyn Savage, who believe that R. Kelly is holding their daughter hostage; she has denied this in interviews.

Andrea Kelly divorced her famous, and infamous, husband R&B legend R. Kelly in 2009. She’s the mother of three of his children. She says her ex was abusive and she was close to suicide over it.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Andrea Kelly, Deciding to ‘End it,’ Says She Climbed up on a Hotel Balcony Before Being Spoken to ‘by God’

In a video interview with Sister Circle Live, the popular TV One daily talk show for black women, Andrea Kelly was asked by host Syleena Johnson to “take us through that moment when you walked away …what was that day like?”

Andrea Kelly says “that day I played sick all day. I got in the bed and said, ‘Ok, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?” What she decided was to “end it.” She says, she’ll never forget it. The couple were at the then trendy and popular, but demolished in 2013, Grand Bay Hotel in Coconut Grove.

Despairing, Kelly says she decided to commit suicide and climbed her hotel room balcony. She says while sobbing that she and prayed and was “told by God” what to do.

Sister Circle Live said it reached out to R. Kelly’s reps and didn’t hear back. She appeared on HLN Saturday to discuss domestic violence and her experiences.

Meanwhile, the “I Believe” crooner posted he was enjoying his Saturday and just rolling on a hover board to Instagram either ignoring or unaware that his ex-wife was sharing her story.


2. Kelly Said She Thought She Was ‘Not The Teeth Missing, The Broken Bone Girl’ Until She Took a Domestic Violence Quiz

Andrea “Drea” Kelly said she was told by God to open her laptop and search the term ‘domestic violence.’ She did and said on a domestic violence awareness page, she answered a questionnaire with 17 questions; “…has your abuser ever done …of the 17, Robert had done 15 to me,” she said while tears are streaming down her face.

Andrea Kelly got an emergency protective order from a Chicago judge in early October of 2005 after alleging her husband physically assaulted stalked and harassed her, MTV News reported at the time.

In her 2005 petition to the court seeking a protective order, which she let expire, she said her then-husband slapped her “for lying to him.” She also said at the time that she asked for a divorce and he allegedly “pinned me down and continued to hit me, yelling, ‘Don’t you leave me! Why are you leaving me?’ He says, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not a wife-beater, my hand was open. It’s not like I did it for no reason. You made me do it,'” MTV News reported her petition read. She said she didnlt call police on her husband because “I thought it would get better.”


3. Drea Kelly Gave Advice to the Parents of Jocelyn Savage, Allegedly Being Held Hostage as R. Kelly’s Sex Slave

The family of Jocelyn Savage claim their adult daughter has been brainwashed by R. Kelly and is in fact being held against her will. Savage has appeared in numerous videos and interviews wheres she denies that’s the case as does R, Kelly. But her family insists she’s part of an alleged Kells sex cult. Buzzfeed ran an explosive article about the alleged sex cult in 2017.

Drea Kelly spoke to the Savage family saying that her family was in a similar situation and in 2003, her mother, grandfather, and aunt told the Chicago Sun Times that they feared for her and were not permitted to see or phone her.

“…I understand this at a level that no police officer, no counselor, no judge will understand …”


4. R. Kelly & Andrea Kelly Divorced in 2009. She Reportedly Got a $50 Million Settlement

Andrea 'Drea' Kelly

Andrea ‘Drea’ Kelly

Robert and Andrea “Drea” Lee were married in 1996 and have three young adult children; Joann, 20, Jay, 18 and 17-year-old Robert Jr. Jay was born Jaya and announced he was transgender in 2014. After almost 13 years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2009. A gag order was issued at R. Kelly’s request and so the terms of the divorce were not made public but it’s been widely reported she received a $50 million settlement plus child support for her then minor kids.

Interestingly, despite being one of the most popular R&B stars ever, R. Kelly and his wife’s net worth are, according to Celebrity Net Worth, the same at $40 million.


5. Drea Kelly is a Dancer, Actress, Choreographer & Reality TV Star

Drea Kelly, 44, is a professional dancer and choreographer, and it was through an audition as a back-up dancer for the “Ignition” singer that the couple met. She choreographed and was the lead dancer in his “Thoia Thoing” video.

After their divorce, Drea made her reality TV debut in 2012 on VH1’s “Hollywood Exes.” She also was featured in the feature film “Before ‘I Do.” Drea owns a dance school and frequently posts her providing dance instruction.

After meeting in an airport and knowing each other for days, she married singer Brian McKee but within a couple of months, they divorced. Fans of hers were outraged that he was found to be cheating. She dismissed the brouhaha at the time.