Who's Watching Shorty?

Reclaiming Myself from the Shame of R. Kelly’s Abuse

Who’s Watching Shorty? is a fearless memoir about the 14-year-old-girl in the child pornography video that ultimately led to R.Kelly’s trial, and one of the most high-profile cases of a generation.

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.