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Keke Palmer calls 'Surviving R. Kelly' 'eye opening, painful, sad'

By Wade Sheridan

July 8 (UPI) -- Keke Palmer discussed her feelings about R. Kelly and Lifetime's documentary series Surviving R. Kelly on Watch What Happens Live.

Palmer, on Sunday, told host Andy Cohen that Surviving R. Kelly was surprising because it was not the experience she had with the singer. The series, released in January, chronicled sexual assault allegations against Kelly.

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"The whole thing was eye opening, painful, sad, disappointing and heartbreaking," Palmer said. "That's not the side I knew. That's not the person that I worked with. That's not the experience I had."

"Just imagine that you having a great experience with someone and then you hearing all this stuff it's like, why didn't you show them what you showed me?" she continued.

"I hated talking about it because I felt like man, you were a friend to me but then I'm seeing you as a foe to others and I'm hurt for them," she said. "It was very saddening. I think anybody that loved him as a person probably feels that way."

Surviving R. Kelly was followed by Kelly being charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse between 1998 and 2010. In June, he pleaded not guilty to 11 new charges related to alleged sexual assault of a teenage fan in 2010.

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Palmer will next be seen in Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Cardi B, Julie Stiles and Lili Reinhart. The film is based on a 2016 New York magazine article about a group of former strippers who team up to scam their Wall Street clients.

Palmer was asked by Cohen what she thought about Cardi B's acting in the film as it will be the rapper's first time starring in a movie.

"I thought she did excellent," Palmer said, before noting that Cardi B and Lopez are tied for best dancer in the film.

"JLO has this really unbelievable scene that y'all are gonna gag over," she said.

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