The woman who was featured in R. Kelly’s infamous 2001 sex tape when she was a teenager is now speaking out for the first time in a televised interview.
On Tuesday (Feb. 3), CBS Mornings aired an exclusive interview with Reshona Landfair, who was just 14 years old when a sex tape featuring her and the disgraced R&B singer leaked online. Previously identified as Jane Doe in Kelly’s 2021 and 2022 federal trials, Landfair, now 41, is breaking her silence before the release of her memoir, Who’s Watching Shorty?
In the video below, Landfair, who is the niece of R&B singer Sparkle and a former teen rapper, told CBS correspondent Jericka Duncan that revealing herself as a victim of R. Kelly has felt liberating to her.
“I really wanted to live in my true skin—in my true self,” Landfair says.
Landfair reveals that Kelly began grooming her shortly after becoming her godfather. In 2001, when she was 17, a sex tape featuring the two of them leaked online. According to Landfair, when the tape became public, Kelly allegedly informed Landfair’s parents that he was in love with her.
In 2008, R. Kelly was acquitted of child p*rnography charges in connection with the tape, mainly because of Landfair’s unwillingness to admit that the girl in the tape was her.
“That’s one of my biggest regrets,” Landfair confesses. “Not telling the truth.”
However, Landfair’s testimony was instrumental in getting R. Kelly convicted at his 2022 sex crimes trial. Following the veteran singer’s guilty verdict in two federal sex crimes cases, Kelly is now serving a 30-year prison sentence.
In a statement to CBS News, R. Kelly’s attorney, Beau B. Brindley, said, “[We have not] been provided with…Ms. Landfair’s memoir. It is therefore impossible to comment on any specific allegations.”
Brindley added, “[Mr. Kelly] wishes her success and peace at all levels.”
R. Kelly is currently serving his time at the medium-security FCI Butner Medium I facility in Butner, NC.
See CBS Mornings’ Video: Jane Doe in R. Kelly’s Sex Tape Speaks Out
See CBS Mornings’ Video: Jane Doe in R. Kelly Case Recalls How “Surviving R. Kelly” Docuseries Release Was Pivotal Moment
