National Post (National Edition)
‘I didn’t do this stuff,’ emotional R. Kelly says
Allegations of sex abuse denied in TV interview
In his first interview since his arrest last month, R&B singer R. Kelly denied charges of sexual abuse and allegations that he manipulated women into staying with him in emotionally and physically abusive relationships.
In an interview with Gayle King — some of which aired on CBS This Morning on Wednesday and some of which will air on Thursday — Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, grew emotional, screaming, cursing and pleading to the camera. Two excerpts from the interview were released Tuesday night.
“Hate me if you want to, love me if you want,” Kelly said. “But just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me, with my crazy past and what I’ve been through — oh, right now I just think I need to be a monster, hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out!”
He continued, directly into the camera and growing tearful: “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me!”
“I’m fighting for my life!” he said, using an expletive.
Kelly, 52, was charged last month in Chicago with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom were minors at the time. His arrest came after a Lifetime documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, brought new attention to accusations that he had mistreated women and revived prosecutors’ interest in his behaviour.
He was released from jail last week after a woman describing herself as a friend of Kelly posted a $100,000 bond.
In the clips released Tuesday, Kelly did not address the charges directly, but said that all the allegations against him were “not true.”
According to prosecutors, one of the three underage girls was the same one who appeared in a sex tape with Kelly that resulted in a 2008 trial on child pornography charges. The girl did not testify then, and Kelly was found not guilty after his lawyers successfully argued that his identity could not be proved.
An interview King conducted with Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, two women who are living with Kelly and have come to court in support of him, will air Friday. Clary’s and Savage’s families have said Kelly is holding the women in a cultlike environment, but Kelly’s lawyer has said they are with the singer of their own free will.