R Kelly sex accuser claims singer is threatening her
A woman who sued R Kelly, accusing the American R&B star of sexual battery, knowingly infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease and false imprisonment says he has threatened her.
High-profile women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred said on Monday that her client, Faith Rodgers, 20, faced efforts to intimidate and retaliate from Kelly after she filed the lawsuit now pending in New York’s Supreme Court.
And just after Rodgers testified in the documentary Surviving R Kelly that aired this month, her lawyers claim Kelly, 51, and his team created a Facebook page – which the social media giant removed within hours – in an effort to discredit his accusers including Rodgers, posting private photos of her.
Rodgers’ team also said Kelly wrote to her attorney, Lydia Hills, saying he was prepared to demand medical evidence to support her claim about the STD and that he would challenge her version of events by putting up male witnesses who would testify under oath about her sex life.
R Kelly’s lawyer, Steve Greenberg, said the letter allegedly sent by the singer was a complete fabrication.
Rodgers filed the lawsuit in May, slightly over a year after she says she met the singer following a concert in San Antonio, Texas.
She says Kelly initiated “non-permissive, painful and abusive sex” and failed to inform her he had the incurable virus herpes, which she says she then contracted.
“Taking a stand against R Kelly, someone [who] is loved by many, has not been easy,” Rodgers said on Monday.
“But I decided that I should speak my truth.” Asked what she would say to the singer today, Rodgers said: “Time’s up.”
Her mother, Kelly Rodgers, said she and her husband had also received threats and intimidation attempts.
“Mr Kelly, you may soon join the ranks of Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein,” Allred said, referring to the TV icon and movie mogul felled by sexual misconduct accusations.
“You can look forward to a legacy which will not be your music, but rather the pain and suffering you inflicted on the many vulnerable teenagers and young women who claim they were victimised by you.”
Since the six-part documentary detailing allegations against Kelly, multiple artists have apologised for working with him, including Lady Gaga and Nick Cannon.