Aaliyah And R. Kelly's Annulment Included Agreement To Protect Him From Physical Abuse Charges

Reporter Jim DeRogatis made the reveal during an appearance on a New york Times podcast.

Jim DeRogatis, the reporter who has pursued the sexual and physical abuse allegations against R. Kelly since 2000, was a guest on the New York Times' podcast series The Popcast with host Jon Caramanica last year.

READ: R. Kelly’s Music Streams Increased by 116% Following Surviving R. Kelly

During the two's conversation, DeRogatis discussed how he first started reporting on Kelly and recalled when he first went through the documents related to the singer and Aaliyah's annulment.

"The annulment of the Aaliyah marriage and Aaliyah's legal claim against him had been sealed in Detroit...they were sealed by the court but those documents were provided to me," DeRogatis said. "It's a harrowing document, a non-disclosure agreement on both her part and Kelly's, vowing not to pursue further legal claims for physical abuse. So it wasn't just an underage sexual relationship, he hit her, allegedly, according to that court document."

Kelly's marriage to Aaliyah was reported by Vibe magazine shortly after the release of the latter's debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. The magazine had found that the official Illinois wedding certificate falsified Aaliyah's age, listing the late singer as 18.

But the document vowing not to pursue further legal claims for physical abuse against Kelly hasn't been mentioned much, even in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series that was recently released. The only new revelation the series offered in regards to Aaliyah was that he had allegedly gotten her pregnant.

The Popcast conversation with DeRogatis can be listened to here. The part where he discusses the annulment happens around the 16:58 mark.

In related news, Kelly's oldest daughter apologized for not being more vocal about her father, who she has been estranged from for years, in a recent statement. She also referred to him as a monster.