Andrea Danyell Kelly (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Lee, January 28, 1974), known professionally as Drea, is an American choreographer, dancer, and actress. She is the second ex-wife of singer-songwriter

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames suc ...

Background and personal life

Andrea Danyell Lee was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, on January 28, 1974. In 1996, Drea, then aged 22, married singer–songwriter

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Prior to their marriage, Drea was a backup dancer for Kelly. Together Drea and Kelly have three children: daughters Joann (born 1998), Jaah (born 2000) and son Robert Jr. (born 2002). Drea changed her last name from Lee to Kelly. Drea filed a restraining order against Kelly in September 2005 after he allegedly assaulted her when she told him she wanted a divorce. Kelly filed for divorce from Lee in 2006; it was finalized in 2009, both parties signed a NDA and Lee was given an undisclosed amount of money for alimony. In 2014, Drea married 36-year-old barber and R&B singer Brian McKee, whom she divorced after just two months of marriage after allegations surfaced that he was having an affair. In 2018, Drea revealed on talk show ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

'' that R. Kelly emotionally and physically abused her throughout their marriage. She stated the abuse became so severe that she contemplated suicide. Drea detailed an incident where Kelly assaulted her in the back of his

Hummer Hummer (stylized in all caps) is an American brand of Pickup truck, pickups launched in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a model under GMC (automob ...

, and as a result she suffers from

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

. Another time, Kelly "

hogtie The hogtie is a method of tying the limbs together, rendering the subject immobile and helpless. Originally, it was applied to pigs (hence the name) and other young four-legged animals. Agriculture uses The hogtie when used on pigs and cat ...

d" her in bed, raped her, and fell asleep while she was still tied. She stated her motive for speaking out many years after their divorce as being to help other victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Videography

Cameo appearances

Books

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Andrea 1974 births 21st-century American women Actresses from Chicago African-American actresses African-American women choreographers African-American choreographers American choreographers American film actresses American women choreographers Dancers from Illinois Living people People with post-traumatic stress disorder