R. Kelly gets new trial date
A federal judge on Tuesday again delayed R. Kelly’s trial in Chicago on child pornography and other charges because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, postponing it to next year.
The 53-year-old R&B star has been behind bars since his arrest in July 2019 and two trial dates, for April and then October this year, were earlier struck.
His new trial date is Sept. 13.
The Grammy Awardwinner has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in Chicago accusing him of filming himself having sex with underage girls and of paying off potential witnesses at his 2008 trial to get them to change their stories.
During a Tuesday hearing held by phone, U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said the September date could still be subject to change.
Once a trial does get underway, prosecutors told Leinenweber it would take around three weeks to present their evidence to jurors.
Kelly also faces federal racketeering charges in New York, as well as state charges in Illinois and Minnesota. His New York trial is scheduled to begin April 7. Kelly has denied ever sexually abusing anyone.
Judges have rejected several requests by Kelly to release him from jail pending trial. Kelly cited the spread of the virus at the downtown Chicago jail where he’s being held, among other reasons.
Yoga mat made of leather draws Hindu complaint
A Hindu activist is calling on luxury-goods maker Louis Vuitton to pull a yoga mat made partly from cowhide leather, calling it “hugely insensitive.”
Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said in a statement Tuesday that the mat is “highly inappropriate” to practicing Hindus, who regard cows as sacred symbols of life.
“The scenario of yoga — a profound, sacred and ancient discipline introduced and nourished by Hinduism — being performed on a mat made from a killed cow is painful,” Zed said.
Paris-based Louis Vuitton did not immediately respond Tuesday to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The company’s yoga mat, made mostly of canvas with leather details and a cowhide carrying strap, retails for $2,390 online.
In an email to AP, Zed called on Louis Vuitton executives to apologize and adhere to its corporate code of conduct, which includes commitments to ethical and social responsibility. The company “should not be in the business of religious appropriation, sacrilege, mocking serious spiritual practices and ridiculing entire communities,” he said.
The Universal Society of Hinduism, which is based in Reno, Nev., has led several recent campaigns targeting what it considers the commercial misuse of sacred symbols.
Zed’s organization is part of an interfaith coalition that’s recently called on Anheuser-Busch InBev to rename its Brahma beer line — which shares its name with a Hindu god, but isn’t named for the deity, the beer giant says — and also urged nightclubs to stop using sacred Buddhist and Hindu imagery as decor.
In August, online homegoods giant Wayfair pulled a towel depicting the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha after the coalition objected.