In an emotional interview with Gayle King of CBS This Morning, R. Kelly denied he’s been sexually abusing women and controlling their lives and said he’s being “assassinated.”
In the interview, the R&B singer’s first since being charged with sexually abusing four females (including three underage girls) dating back to 1998, Kelly said his accusers are “lying.”
“I’ve been assassinated; I’ve been buried alive. But I’m alive,” he said. “You all don’t want to believe the truth.”
Kelly also addressed the documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, which led to the charges against him being filed.
“I don’t really know what a cult is but I don’t have one,” Kelly said. “If you really look at that documentary, which I’m sure you have … everybody says something bad about me. Nobody said nothing good. They were describing Lucifer. I’m not Lucifer. I’m a man. I make mistakes, but I’m not a devil, and by no means am I a monster.”
At one point, the 52-year-old Kelly also said: “I’m an older man who loves all women.”
Following the interview, Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for two Kelly accusers, responded on Twitter.
Key things we learned from the R. Kelly interview: 1. R Kelly is a much better singer than he is an actor; 2. He is desperate and distraught because he knows he has been caught. 3. He thinks sexual assault of young girls in the “way way past” cannot be charged. 4. He is guilty.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 6, 2019
…from R. Kelly –
1) they want their daughter back & 2) they want him to die in prison for the emotional and physical abuse & assault he has inflicted on their daughter and well over 20 other young girls for nearly 30 yrs. This is not about money. It is about truth and justice.— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 6, 2019
Below please find a further statement from my clients Alice and Angelo Clary in response to the R. Kelly interview. pic.twitter.com/eg9R7dt0l1
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 6, 2019
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse.
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