One day after Aaliyah‘s mother claimed the upcoming Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly featured a fabrication about her daughter and the alleged sexual offender, the Pied Piper of R&B’s lawyer is reportedly threatening to sue to network.
According to TMZ, Kelly‘s lawyer Brian Nix sent a legal letter warning the network that he may file a federal lawsuit on Thursday (Jan. 3) if the network doesn’t pull the special. The multi-part docu-series will premiere tonight at 9 p.m. EST.
“Lifetime’s 6-part documentary will feature, for the first time ever, people from Kelly’s inner circle coming forward with new allegations that Kelly has sexually, mentally and physically abused women,” writes the site. Kelly is denying the accusations, stating that the subjects interviewed made false allegations in order to gain fame.
“Kelly says he has 2 audio recordings — 5 minutes in duration — that show Lifetime knew ‘some of the girls are lying, but that the budget was too high to turn back now,”” TMZ continues.
On Jan. 2, Aaliyah’s mother Diane Haughton refuted claims made in the doc by Kelly’s former backup singer Jovante Cunningham, who claims she witnessed a then-15-year-old Aaliyah having sex with Kelly on a tour bus.
“These lies and fabrications cannot be tolerated and allowed to be spewed from the forked tongue of saboteurs of Aaliyah’s legacy,” Haughton said. “Shame on all those involved in this project who thought it kosher to drag Aaliyah’s name into a situation that has nothing to do with her today.”
READ MORE: Aaliyah’s Mother Claims R. Kelly’s Backup Singer Lied About Sex Allegations