R Kelly's daughter has shared an impassioned statement about her "terrible" father.

R Kelly’s estranged daughter Joann Lee Kelly has spoken out about her “terrible” father in the wake of the latest allegations of abuse against him.

Joann – who performs under the stage name Buku Abi – released a long and emotional statement on her InstagramStories on Friday – which she said took three days to write.

In it, the 20-year-old aspiring singer refers to the pressure she and her family – mother, Drea, who divorced Kelly in 2009, and siblings Jay, 18, and Robert Jr, 16, – have been under to publicly condemn their ex and father for his alleged actions.

 

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A post shared by Buku Abi (@bu.k.u) on Oct 11, 2018 at 10:17pm PDT

In what sadly must be a necessary defence, she spoke at length at why she’d tried to stay silent.

“The same monster you all confronting me about is my father. I am well aware of who and what he is. I grew up in that house,” she said.

She told critics that “reminders of how terrible my father is” and “rude comments” about her family don’t help their healing process, nor the any alleged victims to feel safe to speak out.

Buku Abi also strongly alluded to experiencing violence or at least an uncomfortable home life with Kelly as a child.

“Going through all I have gone through in my life, I would never want anyone to feel the pain I have felt,” she said, later adding that she doesn’t speak about her father because it does not help her “emotional healing”.

She also said that she hasn’t spoken to her father in years and does not have a relationship with him, and nor do her siblings or her mother, who filed a restraining order against Kelly in 2005 saying that he hit her when she asked for a divorce, which she later withdrew.

For years it’s been rumoured that R Kelly has had repugnant and potentially criminal interactions with women and underage girls, but only now does it seem the world is taking the claims seriously.

Six-part documentary series Surviving R Kelly, which aired last week, exposed new and existing claims the rapper has kidnapped, harassed, struck and sexually abused women and girls.

It has prompted people within the industry who worked with him in the past to speak out against the music artist, including John Legend and Lady Gaga.

Gaga said she was not making “excuses” for working with Kelly on a song in 2013, but trying to explain she was in a “dark place” at the time. She also vowed to remove the song ‘Do What U Want (With My Body)’ from all streaming services.