Amber Rose Speaks Out About R. Kelly and the 'Cycle of Abuse'

In a new Amber Rose interview, the model and actress shares her thoughts on R. Kelly after watching Surviving R Kelly, Lifetime's documentary about the controversial singer. While many have championed the docu-series for highlighting the voices of underrepresented victims of sexual assault, Kelly's claims in the past about being sexually assaulted as a child, which resulted in a "generational curse," constitute a natural cycle of abuse. Rose disagrees.

(Start video at 1:22:00 mark for conversation on R. Kelly and sexual assault.)

"Last night I know his [Kelly's] brother came out and said they were both molested by their older sister," Rose tells The Red Pill Podcast host, Van Lathan about what she read after seeing all six parts of the series.

"My mother was molested as a child. And I see a lot of people on social media say, 'Oh, this is why R. Kelly is doing this to young girls.' Now, my mother was molested. My mother never touched me, my mother never touched anyone, my mother is a fucking saint. And all the turmoil and trials and tribulations that she had to live at a very young age, she broke that cycle with her child, which is me."

According to psychology professor and author of Children, Sexuality, and Child Sexual Abuse Dianna Kenny, the "cycle of abuse," or idea that those who are molested as children grow up to be molesters is far less common than people think. “Contrary to popular belief, it’s quite unusual,” she previously told Broadly. “All the documented cases that we have of young people who were sexually abused as children, about 20 percent of them will go on to become sexual abusers themselves.”

Rose believes in the case of her mother's sexual abuse as a child, that it manifested itself in another way. "Because my mother was molested, she had a hard life. Her siblings went through a lot—most of my family is dead from overdoses," she says. "I had to deal with a mother that was also clinically depressed. It made my mom not want to leave the house."

Recent research has indicated that those who have experienced sexual assault or abuse may be more like to suffer from poor sleep, anxiety, high blood pressure, and symptoms of depression. Professor Rebecca Thurston, who led the 2018 study, believes that the traumatic implications of being sexually assaulted can affect quality of life, social functioning, and job performance.

Rose, who has dealt first-hand with seeing the result of sexual abuse in her family contends that sexual assault shouldn't be accepted as a generational trait or proclivity.

"I don't look at any of that as an excuse," Rose says about Kelly's alleged abuse of young girls. "There's an end to a cycle. You can end it. You have the responsibility as a grown person to be like, this happened to me, but I don't want to do this to other people."