Shraman Mitra
In an unprecedented incident that rocked the entertainment industry to its core, R&B star R. Kelly was accused of sexually abusing and harassing several minors between 1991 and 2020. While Kelly was eventually convicted of his crimes and sentenced to prison, most of his victims preferred to remain anonymous during the trial. However, some spoke up for the first time through the Lifetime documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly,’ which documents Kelly’s crimes and takes the viewer through the horrific incidents through one-on-one interviews with the survivors, their families, journalists, and legal representatives, among others. While on the show, Survivor Lisa Van Allen detailed her experience with R. Kelly and talked about how the ordeal permanently impacted her life.
Who is Lisa Van Allen?
Initially, Lisa Van Allen claimed she was just 17 years old when she met and got acquainted with R. Kelly in 1998. Although Lisa later went on to mention that she was actually 18 years old at that time, she stated how she and Kelly hit it off immediately after getting acquainted as the R&B artist took a unique interest in her and was willing to get to know her better. Hence, in a matter of a few days, Lisa got pretty close to the popular singer, and they started a romantic relationship. Although their relationship was relatively smooth in the beginning, Lisa later alleged that Kelly soon introduced her to a girl whom she claimed was his neighbor. Initially, Kelly claimed that the neighbor was 16 and encouraged Lisa to have sex with her. In fact, Lisa, the neighbor, and Kelly even had threesomes several times, which the singer allegedly recorded.
Eventually, in the year 2000, Lisa discovered that the neighbor she had been getting intimate with was just 14 years of age. Naturally, the shocking revelation made her feel pretty disgusted, and she put her foot down when Kelly asked her to engage in sexual activities yet again. In another instance, Lisa mentioned that she learned how Kelly often traveled with a bag full of homemade sex tapes. Once, when she was alone in a room with the bag, she went through the collection of tapes before removing one that had a recording of their threesome. She then passed the tape over to her friend, Keith Murrell, for safekeeping, and although her romantic relationship with Kelly ended soon after, Lisa allegedly kept in touch with the R&B singer.
When Kelly was arrested and put on trial in 2007, Lisa approached the singer and informed him about the tape in his possession. She then mentioned that Kelly offered to pay her a sum of money in exchange for the video, and she, along with Keith Murrell, turned the tape over to Kelly’s former business manager, Derrel McDavid. At the time of submitting the tape, Lisa was forced to go through three separate polygraph tests and alleged that McDavid claimed they should have “murked” her when she failed the third test.
Lisa Van Allen is a Public Speaker Today
Like most of Kelly’s victims, Lisa Van Allen chose to remain anonymous while testifying against R. Kelly at his federal trial in 2022. At the trial, Lisa talked about her experience while dating the singer and stated how she was affected when McDavid allegedly mentioned they should have “murked” her. However, readers should note that McDavid has refuted the claim since then and has insisted on his innocence.
At present, Lisa has built up a reputation as an author and a public speaker. She refuses to be acknowledged as a victim and prefers to see herself as more of a survivor. Lisa currently resides with her teenage daughter, Akeyla, and is pretty vocal when it comes to advocating against abuse. Besides, she keeps her followers updated through regular posts on social media and from the looks of it, has been battling the demons of her past with help from her friends and loved ones. The courage Lisa showed in the face of abuse is inspiring to say the least, and we wish her the best for the years to come.
Read More: Lanita Carter: Where is R Kelly’s Ex-Hair Dresser Now?
