On Tuesday, December 4th, Lifetime debuted their new documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” at the NeueHouse Madison Square in NYC.  The documentary will air on January 4 at 9PM ET/PT.  The three night, six part documentary series documents the alleged victims of R. Kelly’s pedophilia and abuse.  Several celebrities like John Legend, Sparkle, Wendy Williams were interviewed, including those in his innermost circle.  Drea Kelly, his ex-wife and mother of his children, was R. Kelly’s former backup dancer and toured with him prior to having a romantic relationship.  She became more vocal in sharing her story after seeing one of the victims describe an abusive encounter that was similar to her experience with her ex-husband.  She’s described heinous acts by R. Kelly and decided to leave when she had a suicidal thought and thanks God and her children for keeping her from jumping off her bedroom balcony.  Ms.  Kelly was on site and was scheduled to speak on the panel after the screening.

Tarana Burke, the founder of the Me Too Movement and Civil Rights Activist, is featured in the docuseries and was also in attendance at the NeueHouse event space when the evacuation occurred.  The seven featured survivors, Jerhonda Pace, Kitti Jones, Lisa VanAllen, Asante McGee, Lizzette Martinez and Faith Rodgers also graced the red carpet and were visibly shaken when they were quickly whisked from the location.

Gretchen Carlson, Author and Me Too advocate, attended to give support to the brave women.  Angela Yee, The Breakfast Club, was scheduled to moderate the panel.

A Lifetime representative stated they will do their best to reschedule and their main priority was the safety of the survivors and attendees.