Reshonda Landfair, who previously testified as a Jane Doe victim in R.Kelly’s 2022 federal trial, has made her first TV appearance for an interview with CBS Mornings. She spoke with the outlet to promote her new memoir, Who’s Watching Shorty?: Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse.
“I was empty, I was very hollow inside. I was very confused," she recalled of her time with Kelly. "Didn't know what to expect. And I was embarrassed. As for why she didn't testify in Kelly's earlier trials, she admitted: "That's one of my biggest regrets-- not telling the truth. But again, when I have been trained and groomed since I was age 13, I started believing the lies that I was telling. It was very foggy and unclear on what I really felt versus what was right or what was wrong. Even in moments when I despised Robert, I still lied for him.”
From there, Landfair reflected on the sex tape of her and R. Kelly becoming public. She said that the public reaction and viral jokes made her feel more like a "mockery" than a victim. "It was very disheartening to know that my body was just being displayed and tossed around," she added.
R. Kelly's Prison Sentence
Landfair's interview with CBS Mornings comes as R. Kelly remains in prison, having been convicted of multiple charges of child sexual abuse. He is serving a 31-year combined sentence at FCI Butner Medium I in North Carolina.
Last year, Kelly tried seeking a new trial, even requesting that Chicago prosecutors be disqualified from his case. U.S. District Judge Martha Pacold denied the motion in August, labeling it “extreme” and “drastic," while noting that he lacked significant evidence of their alleged misconduct and internal conflicts.
“To warrant such an extraordinary intrusion into the affairs of a coequal branch as the disqualification of an entire USAO, a defendant must make an equally extraordinary showing. Kelly’s motion does not meet that standard,” Pacold explained at the time.
