[imagesource: Getty/Antonio Perez]

When Surviving R. Kelly aired last year, the music industry could no longer sit by and let a man who they knew was up to no good continue without repercussions.

The fallout to the six-hour docuseries was swift, and it was rather tough not to take pleasure in watching him break down during an interview on CBS Evening News.

Decades of abusing women, many of whom were underage, and sympathy is hard to come by.

Now the producers behind the bombshell exposé have released their follow-up, Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning, which contains further unsettling revelations about the musician.

The three-part docuseries is, again, a lengthy affair, but given how much of a blind eye has been turned, you can’t blame the producers for making sure they landed more damning body blows.

Before we get to what new information was presented, here’s the official trailer:

As things stand, R. Kelly faces a number of charges, and the federal charges alone see him facing a minimum of 15 years in prison if found guilty.

With the help of VICE, let’s see what new information has been presented:

Kelly’s brothers detail their knowledge of sexual abuse R. Kelly allegedly faced as a child

The Reckoning finds Bruce and Carey Kelly detailing new claims involving Mr. Eli Henry, a “sixty-something-year-old” man who lived in the building where the brothers practiced their music as children…

“Mr. Henry had Robert come upstairs and he tried some inappropriate things with Robert,” Bruce said. “My mother called the police. Mr. Henry bonded out and was able to bribe my mom. He gave my mom $5,000 for her not to come to court, and she didn’t come to court.”

Tiffany Hawkins, the first girl to sue R. Kelly for sexual assault, finally shares her story—and it’s horrifying.

Tiffany Hawkins [below], an aspiring singer with a voice that drew comparisons to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, met Kelly in Hyde Park as a sophomore at Kenwood High School…

Hawkins alleges that after they met, Kelly invited her to his apartment, with one request: She was asked to bring her friends.

 “I would go in and out of the room and every time I went in there, he was having sex with someone,” she says. “It turned into a whole orgy. Every girl I brought was between the age of 14-16.” According to Hawkins, Kelly was 25 years old at the time.

Hawkins also details how Kelly eventually isolated her from her friends, and she eventually attempted to take her own life.

Non-disclosure agreements, like the one Aaliyah signed, set a precedent to silence girls.

“That non-disclosure agreement became the most effective tool in R. Kelly’s arsenal to continue his predatory practices,” says criminal defense attorney Alison Triessl. [Reporter Jim] Derogatis considers Aaliyah and Hawkins’ agreements to be the beginning of what he considers lawyer Susan E. Loggans’ “settlement factory.”

Jerhonda Pace says she was a part of a suicide pact when she was involved with Kelly.

Jerhonda Pace [below], who met the singer outside of the courthouse as he stood trial for child pornography in 2008, says she became sexually involved with Kelly when she was 16. In The Reckoning, Pace details an alleged suicide pact she says she agreed to with Kelly, promising that if he ever got into legal trouble or was physically harmed, she would kill herself.

“He’s like, ‘If something happens to me, I want you to take these pills,'” she says. “… I said, ‘Are you serious? He said, ‘Yeah, this is what you do. This is a suicide pact.'”

One of the women who featured prominently in the first series, Dominique Gardner, also finally shared her story. Gardner was rescued by her mother after nine years of living with Kelly, although she had never given public testimony before the new series:

According to Gardner [below left], breaking Kelly’s house rules had serious ramifications, including physical abuse. [Mother Michelle] Kramer says her daughter described the singer as “very violent,” and claims that simple acts like eating and using the bathroom on your own, against Kelly’s demands, resulted in being beaten with “extension cords, belts, shoes, whatever you could think of.”

Gardner even alleges that her short haircut was the result of a physical altercation where Kelly pulled her hair out after she disobeyed him at a party. After he yanked it to the point where it was falling out, Kelly allegedly said, “Well I think you might look nice with short hair.”

Finally, after years of women speaking out and years of silence on the part of the music industry, action is being taken.

Whether or not this monster will serve decent time behind bars remains to be seen, but R. Kelly’s three trials are due to take place in April, May, and September of this year.

[source:vice]