"Lizzette Martinez’s story embodies the fire energy that gives light and life to survivors all around her! Survivors need to see strength and perseverance despite opposition, and Lizzette models just that." - Melissa Schuman, actress and singer In January of 1995, 17-year-old Lizzette Martinez met Grammy-winning musician and record producer R. KELLY at Aventura Mall in Florida where he was performing. At first, it seemed that her hopes of … [Read more...]
Awaiting The Verdict: How Lizzette Martinez Survived The Weeks Before Justice In R. Kelly’s New York Trial
I am Lizzette Martinez, one of the many survivors who suffered abuse at the hands of famed singer R. Kelly. The relationship began when I was just seventeen and continued into my early twenties, but the effects of everything that happened have followed me my entire life. I was listed in the indictment for R. Kelly’s trial in New York, and this is my story—my life outtake—of what it was like to sit and wait for justice again after all this … [Read more...]
Lizzette Martinez and Keelin MacGregor
Lizzette Martinez is the survivor and silence-breaker featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary Surviving R. Kelly, Parts 1 & 2. She was one of the first women to come out about the singer publicly to Buzzfeed in 2018. Puerto Rican and from a music family, Lizzette, an aspiring vocalist, was seventeen when she met R. Kelly at a Miami mall. She began a working association with the star that quickly turned into an abusive relationship. Her … [Read more...]
