Keke Palmer Shares Her Thoughts On Former Mentor R. Kelly: ”That’s Not The Person I Worked With”

Keke Palmer shares her thoughts on her former mentor, R. Kelly, after watching Lifetime’s docu-series #SurvivingRKelly.

Palmer recently stopped by #AndyCohen’s “Watch What Happens Live” and opened up about her experience watching the Lifetime documentary, which focused on the history of sexual assault and child abuse allegations against the singer-songwriter. “The whole thing was eye-opening, painful, sad, disappointing and heartbreaking,” Palmer said.

When Cohen asked if she was surprised, Palmer answered, “Yes, because that’s not the side I knew,” admitted the singer-actress. “That’s not the person that I worked with. That’s not the experience I had. So, just imagine if you’re having a great experience with someone and then you’re hearing all this stuff it’s like, ‘Why didn’t you show them what you showed me?’ That’s the feeling I had.”

“I hated talking about it because I felt like, man, you were a friend to me, but then I’m seeing you as a foe to others, and I’m hurt for them,” she continued. “How do I feel about it? How do I put myself in this position now? It was very sad. I think that anybody that loved him as a person probably feels that way. That’s not something you want to hear about somebody that you cared for.”

Palmer, who once was a student of Kelly’s, previously expressed her feelings back in January when the docu-series was first released. “Just finished Surviving R. Kelly and I have spent the last hour crying,” she wrote on Instagram. “As a student of R. Kelly’s for the time, I was and having been around his light and understanding the obstacles he overcame as a child to actually be birthed into the musical genius he is today… All to put others through the same darkness he was running from is the most disheartening thing to accept. Many people experience hardships and do not allow themselves to find freedom through their passion enough to shine a light. R. Kelly received that grace from God. God blessed him to vindicate his childhood shortcomings, and yet still he has slapped God in the face by his actions towards these women.”