Aaliyah's Mother Slams Claims R. Kelly Had Sex With Singer

The mother of the late R&B singer Aaliyah has come forward to slam claims made in the controversial new docu-series ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ that her daughter had sex with Kelly when she was underage.

In one of the episodes of Lifetime’s upcoming documentary series, Aaliyah’s former back-up singer Jovante Cunningham alleges that she witnessed the singer having sex with Kelly, whose history of allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, including kidnapping them and brainwashing them for a sex cult, are put under the microscope in the series.

However, Aaliyah’s mother, Diane Haughton, released a statement on Twitter this week to fiercely deny the totality of Cunningham’s claims.

The claims were made in new series 'Surviving R. Kelly'

“The woman and so-called backup singer that describes seeing, meeting or ever breathing the same air as my daughter, Aaliyah, is lying and is a liar,” Haughton said in the statement. “My husband and I were always on tour with her and at interviews and every place she went throughout her entire career. Whoever this woman is, I have never seen her before anywhere on planet earth, until now.”

In one of the episodes, Cunningham detailed when she claims she saw Kelly, then 27, having sex with then-15-year old Aaliyah.

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“We were out on the road with Aaliyah,” she said. “On a tour bus, there really aren’t many confined spaces. When you get on the bus there are bunks and so these bunks have little curtains you can pull at night if you don’t want anybody to see you sleeping... The door flew open on the bus. Robert [Kelly] was having sex with Aaliyah.”

However, Haughton’s statement, while not naming Cunningham directly, spoke of the “forked tongues” of the people spreading the allegations and said that her daughter, who died in a plane crash at the age of 22, had nothing to do with the current speculation over R. Kelly.

“My daughter only wanted to realize her dream of sharing her talent with the world, and give her all performing on stage and in front of the camera for the fans she adored so much. She realized that dream, thanks to those true fans who still love and support her legacy unconditionally to this day,” Houghton’s statement continued.

“Shame on all those involved in this project who thought it kosher to drag Aaliyah’s name into a situation that has nothing to do with her today. Once again, this will not be tolerated.”

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