'Surviving R. Kelly' Producer Responds to Drea Kelly's Lawsuit Threats

The producer behind Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly docu-series, Brie Miranda Bryant, refute accusations made by Drea Kelly and hope that she will reconsider her possible lawsuit. 

"I hope she feels differently after she sees it," Bryant said when talking about Kelly and Surviving R. Kelly Part Two: The Reckoning with Page Six. "The pieces that were in the trailer are from her interview in part one. She did not sit for Part Two."

Earlier this month, Kelly—who was married to the singer for 13 years—told TMZ that she plans to sue the network for releasing a misleading trailer. In the promo for Surviving R. Kelly Part Two: The Reckoning, previously unaired portions of Kelly's first interview with Lifetime is featured. But she explains to TMZ that she has nothing to do with this series and declined to participate due to the show's mishandling of the survivors. 

"When they brought the idea to me I let them know in no way, shape, form, or fashion would I be a part of it," Kelly said. "They reached out to my children without my permission. They reached out to my family without my permission... But what's more important about this is I'm not happy with the aftercare and how the victims were handled throughout this entire process."

Bryant combatted Kelly's claims. She tells Page Six that the production team consulted more than 20 advocacy groups when making the series. There were also licensed professionals on set to help the survivors.

"We had two therapists who were able to consult with the survivors and participants after every interview who were there throughout the duration [of production]," Bryant said. "We have, it may have hit 23 advocacy groups that have helped us during the making of the series to make sure we were staying within proper parameters."

"Even decisions in terms of how we speak of these women; ‘are you a survivor’ or ‘are you a victim?’ These are conversations we really had to have," she continued. "First and foremost, it’s about the survivors feeling heard and getting them the justice they feel that they need."

A representative for Lifetime echoed Bryant's remarks. The network says that it offered every participant—including Kelly—multiple opportunities to seek help and guidance following the first installment. 

"After the doc aired, Drea chose to not participate in many of the other things the other survivors decided to do that we continually invited them to partake in — most recently, we had invited the others survivors (as well as Drea but she declined) to attend The Wrap Women’s Event where there was a tribute to them for sharing their stories," the rep said. "We also have a coalition of organizations under Stop Violence Against Women of non-profit partners all who offer resources, information, and services to our survivors, as well as viewers at large."