R&B artist, Robert Kelly also known as R. Kelly has been known for sleeping with women under 18 and filming sex tapes with them. He rose to popularity in the 90’s in the world of R&B, he was actually nicknamed the King of R&B. Most of his music is very sexually explicit so few were surprised when a sex tape emerged in 2002 of him having sex with a woman.
The problem with the tape was that the girl that he was having sex with was a minor. The tape was sent to the Chicago Sun Times newspaper. He was charged in June 2002 with 21 counts of having sex with a minor, but the charges were dropped due to a lack of probable cause.
In September 2007, he stood trial again for the initial charges but he was found not guilty six months later.
Many have doubted R. Kelly’s innocence, especially since the singer has been known for having relationships with underage girls, including R&B singer Aaliyah. Allegedly, Aaliyah was 15 when she the then 27 year old R. Kelly. Her age was changed to 18 on the marriage certificate. The two have denied it.
This week, an interview was published by The Village Voice, Jim DeRogatis did an interview with Jessica Hopper and he dropped a lot of shocking details about R. Kelly’s sexual relationships with girls as young as 13 years old. R. Kelly’s new album Black Panties was released last week. DeRogatis however, want people to remember that R. Kelly is a pedophile and the public shouldn’t continue to support him.
Chicago Sun-Times former reporter DeRogatis followed the R. Kelly case closely and he discovered that many reporters didn’t want to cover the story because of the details surrounding it.
“They were stomach churning. The one young woman, who had been 14 or 15 when R. Kelly began a relationship with her, detailed in great length in her affidavits, a sexual relationship that began at Kenwood Academy. It lasted about one and a half to two years, and then he dumped her, and she slit her wrists and tried to kill herself.”
DeRogatis went on to explain that the affidavits are public record and any reporter can go pull the documents if they care to.
Hopper asked Derogatis about one of the young girls getting an abortion and he confirmed it to be true.
“That he paid for. There was a young woman that he picked up on the evening of hr prom. Impregnated her, had his goons drive her. None of which she wanted. She sued him. The saddest fact that I’ve learned is: Nobody matters less to our society than young black women. They have any complaint about the way they’re treated: they are’ bi*ches, hos and gold-diggers,’ plain and simple. “
Most of the public thought that it was only underage Aaliyah, who R. Kelly married when she was just 15 and the unknown girl on the tape. There were rumors that there were more tapes but they were quickly dismissed. DeRogatis confirms that they were more than a dozen girls who came forward to share their story about R. Kelly.
R. Kelly has since responded to the Village Voice story during a radio interview on Atlanta’s V-103.
“It’s not just about getting on top, it’s about holding your balance once you get up there,” the 46 year old says.”You have to be spiritually a climber. So I feel good about Black Panties…as long as I got my fans screaming my name around the world and buying my records and supporting R. Kelly, everybody who doesn’t agree with it should listen to the last song on Black Panties” . The track is called “Shut Up.”
You can listen to R. Kelly’s response below: