R. Kelly Silenced Aaliyah And Family With NDA And Financial Incentive Following Their 1995 Annulment, Per Docuseries Episode

In 1994, a then 15-year-old Aaliyah secretly married Kelly, who was 27. Because Aaliyah was a minor, the marriage certificate falsely stated her age as 18.

A few months after the pair’s secret nuptials, the “Try Again” singer’s parents had the marriage annulled.

In Surviving R. Kelly, Gem Pratt, the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner’s childhood friend and former bodyguard, claimed Aaliyah’s parents had a contract with Kelly that they wouldn’t press charges against him for the illegal marriage. In return, Kelly sold the rights to his first three albums to Aaliyah’s family.

Kelly’s trial last year — before he was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison for federal racketeering and sex trafficking — included the previously sealed NDA, but it failed to receive widespread coverage.

In an interview with The New York Times‘ podcast Popcast, Jim DeRogatis, the journalist who first wrote about Kelly’s sexual abuse in 2000, said, “It’s a harrowing document. A nondisclosure 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.”