After years of suspicion, a reckoning for R. Kelly
NEW YORK — Most people know him for “I Believe I Can Fly,” the 1996 hit that became an inspirational anthem played at school graduations, weddings and in advertisements. Or possibly for a stinging parody by comedian Dave Chappelle.
But starting this week, what prosecutors say was a not-so-secret dark side of R&B superstar R. Kelly will be presented in lurid detail for a jury here.
The federal trial comes after years of frustration among women who say they were sexually abused by the 54-year old singer, who denies any wrongdoing.
If the trial brings some satisfaction to women who say they were victims of Kelly’s alleged depravity, “there’s also a feeling of ‘too little too late,’” said Jim DeRogatis, a music writer and college professor who wrote a book on Kelly called “Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly.”
“Thousands of people,” he said, “knew about his behavior for decades.”
The question is “why didn’t anyone notice?” writer Mikki Kendall said in the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly.” “The answer is that we all noticed. No one cared because we were Black girls.”
Opening statements are slated for Wednesday before a jury of seven men and five women. The trial, coming after several delays mostly because of the pandemic, will unfold under coronavirus precautions restricting the press and the public to overflow courtrooms with video feeds.
Even before Kelly beat a narrowly constructed child pornography case in Chicago in 2008 with one alleged victim and a home video that a jury found unpersuasive, his alleged perversions were part of pop culture. In 2003, the “Chappelle’s Show” aired a mock music video that starred Chappelle as R. Kelly performing a song about an allegation that he urinated on an underage girl.
With the dawn of the #MeToo era, Kelly came under renewed media scrutiny fueled by the widely watched “Surviving R. Kelly.” The work in part delves into how a cadre of supporters protected Kelly and silenced his victims for decades, foreshadowing a federal racketeering conspiracy case that landed him in jail in 2019. The performer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, was behind bars in Chicago before being transferred to New York City in June.
Prosecutors in Brooklyn have lined up multiple female accusers — mostly identified in court papers as “Jane Does” — and cooperating former associates who never have spoken publicly about their experiences with Kelly.
When the women and girls arrived at his home, a member of Kelly’s entourage would instruct them not to interact with each other, prosecutors said in court papers.
Kelly had rules barring partners from looking at other men and from leaving their rooms to eat or go to the bathroom without his permission. He told them how they should dress, and required them to call him “Daddy.”
Prosecutors also say there will be new evidence about at least two underage “John Doe” victims.
“I believe some of what’s going to come out will shock people,” DeRogatis said.