An executive for Lifetime recently responded to recent claims Drea Kelly made, after she voiced her intentions to explore legal options and possibly file a lawsuit against the network.
Last week Kelly sat down with TMZ to express her frustrations and distance herself from the upcoming latest installment of the Surviving R. Kelly series. In her lament, Kelly explained that she was confused as to why producers for the Surviving R. Kelly II series chose to place footage of her interview from the January documentary into a promo trailer for part two. Kelly believes it confuses audiences, leading them to believe that she will appear in the second installment.
On Tuesday Page Six caught up with Lifetime SVP and Surviving R. Kelly executive producer Brie Miranda Bryant at a screening for the new film where she shared her thoughts regarding Kelly’s claims.
“I hope she feels differently after she sees it,” Bryant began. “The pieces that were in the trailer are from her interview in part one. She did not sit for Part Two.”
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But most importantly, Kelly basically expressed that she felt the network and producers abandoned the women who came forward to share their stories, offering little protection or after care resources. Bryant told the outlet that there were resources offered to the women on and off set.
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“We had two therapists who were able to consult with the survivors and participants after every interview who were there throughout the duration [of production],” Bryant continued. “We have, it may have hit 23 advocacy groups that have helped us during the making of the series to make sure we were staying within proper parameters.
“Even decisions in terms of how we speak of these women; ‘are you a survivor’ or ‘are you a victim?’ These are conversations we really had to have,” she continued. “How do they view themselves? What’s the appropriate lens for that? We’ve tried to take it as seriously as possible. First and foremost, it’s about the survivors feeling heard and getting them the justice they feel that they need.”
An unnamed rep for Lifetime told Page Six that Kelly failed to participate in several aftercare opportunities offered to participants and survivors.
“After the doc aired, Drea chose to not participate in many of the other things the other survivors decided to do that we continually invited them to partake in — most recently, we had invited the other survivors (as well as Drea but she declined) to attend The Wrap Women’s Event where there was a tribute to them for sharing their stories.”
Either way, Kelly faced heavy scrutiny for her decision to come forward months prior to the documentary airing, regarding the abuse she suffered during her marriage to the embattled R&B singer. Many critics blamed her for some of the singer’s antics and held no space to see her as a survivor as well.
Kelly did not share any further details regarding a potential lawsuit, but hopefully a private agreement can be made between her and the network.
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