A ‘Jane Doe’ in the R. Kelly trials is ready to share her real name. And her story

Reshona Landfair met R. Kelly when she was a pre-teen in 1996. Starstruck, along with the rest of her community, Landfair says she fell victim to his grooming tactics, followed by years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse. When an infamous videotape of Kelly abusing Landfair became public, she described feeling isolated, subject to the whims of her abuser, and known only in the courts and to the world as “Jane Doe.”

When asked how she felt after the tape surfaced publicly, Landfair told All Things Considered host Juana Summers, “It was everything that I hear about prison.”

“It was very traumatizing. It was very hurtful and lonely,” Landfair added.

The video was shown to the juries in two of Kelly’s trials on child pornography charges: first, in 2008, which ended in his acquittal, and again in 2022, which resulted in Kelly’s conviction.

Landfair’s new memoir, Who’s Watching Shorty? Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse, details her turbulent adolescence and escape from a long cycle of exploitation, as she seeks to be a voice for other survivors.

Listen to the full interview by clicking play on the blue box above.