Former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Porsha Williams is sharing new accusations about her past experiences with R. Kelly.
Williams, 40, opened up to People about what she called in her upcoming memoir, “The Pursuit of Porsha” (out Nov. 30), an “abusive situation” she faced.
According to the super star, she decided to share the story with investigators, but she did not disclose when she reported her experiences.
“I realized it was my opportunity to help anyone who’s been hurt by him,” Williams said. “There had been so many other instances where I had been abused by men that my mentality (at that time) was of an abused person, and that it was okay for me to be treated like that.”
Kelly was convicted in New York in September on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering following a six-weeklong trial featuring graphic testimony from dozens of accusers who accuse him of sexual and physical abuse.
Their accounts included profane video and audio recordings that prosecutors say document how he threatened accusers with violence. The charges date back decades and stem from six complaining witnesses, including the late singer Aaliyah.
According to People, Williams writes in her book that she visited Chicago in 2007, when she was 25, to meet with Kelly about potentially working together when he arranged for her to meet him at his home. She says she was led to his bedroom and left there alone until Kelly joined her and told her to take off her clothes.
“I’ve already put myself in this position,” she wrote. “This is what you’re supposed to do. You have to. There is no turning back.”
After seeing him two more times, Williams wrote, she said she woke up once to hear another woman being beaten in another room and decided not to see him again.
Williams said she kept the story a secret for years but wants to come forward now in the hopes that it will help protect other women from having similar experiences.
“It’s not something you want to tell your mom, because my mom is a very strong woman and she did her very best in raising me,” Williams said. “And I think for any woman or man who’s been in an abusive situation, you don’t want to tell your parents because you don’t want them to think that they had let you down in any way. I don’t want her to think that she had done anything wrong. And so I took it upon myself.”
She added: “But I was glad when I did, she was glad that I told her and we talked about it. She told me some of her experiences. And we just talked about how this should be told so other women don’t have to go through it.”