Iyanla Vanzant Says She Turned Down R. Kelly For 'Fix My Life'

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The T.V. Host Says R. Kelly Reached Out To Her Before ‘Surviving R. Kelly’

R. Kelly could have been the next controversial celeb on Fix My Life, according to Iyanla Vanzant, but he was not ready.

Vanzant talked with ABC News and spilled details about an interaction she had with Kelly ahead of the season six premiere of her show on OWN. According to her, Mr. Kelly reached out to her way before the explosive Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly:

“He didn’t meet one of the criteria that we had for guests,” she said. “Are they willing? Are they ready? Do they have the capacity to do the work? He didn’t have it, the emotional capacity. He just didn’t have it, and I knew, based on what I was looking at — the paces I would have had to take him through — it would have been brutal. He didn’t have the capacity because he hasn’t done the work.”

Vanzant, who said she’s experience sexual violence herself, asserted that Kelly would have to own up to the things he’s done as part of the healing process.

She also went on to say that prison isn’t the answer when it comes to handling R. Kelly:

“I would never, ever condone or justify anything that he’s been accused of doing,” she said. “But locking him up in jail is not the answer … he’s sick … Just like the people he allegedly committed these acts with — they’re sick. This needs to be massive healing — them, him, all of them.”

R. Kelly is currently under investigation for his alleged acts of sexual abuse, which could lead to prison time. Despite Vanzant’s hesitance towards carceral punishment, she does believe some type of major intervention needs to be had:

“I do know, without some long-term intervention, he doesn’t have the capacity,” she said. “Just wouldn’t be able to hear it, receive it. Classic thing is that he’s not telling the truth about it.”