Who’s Watching Shorty?
Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse
Contributors
Formats and Prices
- On Sale
- Feb 17, 2026
- Page Count
- 272 pages
- Publisher
- Legacy Lit
- ISBN-13
- 9781538776957
Price
$30.00Price
$40.00 CADFormat
Format:
- Hardcover $30.00 $40.00 CAD
- ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD
- Audiobook Download (Unabridged) $24.99
- Trade Paperback (Large Print) $32.00 $42.00 CAD
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Reshona Landfair—known as “Jane Doe” when she testified at R. Kelly’s trial—was the 14-year-old-girl in the child pornography video that ultimately led to racketeering and sex-trafficking convictions and a 30-year prison sentence for the R&B superstar. No one in Landfair’s world was looking out for her interests or trying to protect her from someone who was a known (or at least rumored) predator. The people who should have stood up for her—from her family to music business executives to social services to law enforcement—all looked the other way, blinded by his fame and celebrity. That’s the story that hasn’t been told, and which Reshona is finally ready to recount, in her own words.
What was it like to be a young teenager, emotionally still a child, and be caught up in his orbit? Why did she believe he loved her, despite how badly he treated her? Why did she keep his secrets for so long? This book is an insider’s view from the girl, now woman, that R. Kelly called his “goddaughter,” the man to whom she lost her virginity, her voice, her freedom, and nearly her life, in the years he had her under his perverse control.
A deeply personal and ultimately empowering memoir, Who’s Watching Shorty? is more than a story of bravery; it’s a hard-hitting reminder to always look after those you love. Jane Doe is no longer a nameless plaintiff on a long court document. Jane Doe is Reshona Landfair, a champion of victims of abuse and coercion, a woman whose fearless voice and transformative words will provide courage for generations to come.
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"In Who’s Watching Shorty?, Reshona Landfair rises from the silence that once swallowed her name, turning the weight of what was done to her into the power of her pen. Her story breaks open the machinery of fame that celebrated harm while ignoring the harmed, forcing us to confront how easily the world looks away. With searing beauty and unflinching truth, Landfair reclaims her own narrative: every note, every wound, every word. This is a memoir of reclamation and resurrection, where a voice once silenced now demands to be heard in every corner that once echoed with salacious applause. Who’s Watching Shorty? is not only Landfair’s liberation—it is a call for us all to finally listen."Tarana Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Unbound and founder of the Me Too movement
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"In Who's Watching Shorty?, Reshona Landfair gives readers a brave, honest, and beautifully brutal look at what it means to be a victim in the public eye. Despite going through a series of traumatic experiences few would survive, she has chosen to shine a light on her own pain and through that indict a culture that values celebrity over decency. Everyone should read it, so that no one else has to live through it."Mikki Kendall, New York Times bestselling author of Hood Feminism
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“Reshona Landfair has been waiting a quarter of a century to be seen. In this brave and beautiful memoir, Reshona emerges as a dynamic and resilient adult to tell her story in her own words for the first time.”Drew Dixon, from the foreword
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"Who’s Watching Shorty? is not only a harrowing roadmap of one of the most visible and tolerated cases of child sexual abuse in the nation’s modern history but a necessary chronicling of the complicated complicities, celebrity culture and routine devaluing of black girls that allowed it to happen. Reshona Landfair is filled with the kind of compassion and hard-earned self-love that transforms victims into victors. May her truths help set others free."Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost
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"Who’s Watching Shorty? is a vulnerable and brave story of a Black woman healing in public. Reshona Landfair invites readers to see the humanity of every young Black girl in our community who has been mislabeled and overlooked. This is a must read book for everyone who claims to love and protect Black girls, and a bold reminder that we are our children’s keepers."Shanita Hubbard, author of Ride-Or-Die
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