You may remember R. Kelly from his hit song ‘Ignition’ that refuses to die.
He’s popped up again recently because of a small issue with families accusing him of running a cult.
BuzzFeed ran a story with claims from parents that Kelly had “brainwashed” their 21-year-old daughter and controlled everything she did – an allegation three former members of his inner circle confirmed he’d done before.
Cheryl Mack, Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee all told the publication that the 50-year-old has six young women living across properties in Chicago and Atlanta and he controls every aspect of their lives – what they eat, when they sleep and shower, how they dress and the way they have sex.
R. Kelly hit back at the allegations, using a representative to say he is “both alarmed and disturbed by the recent revelations attributed to him”.
“Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies such accusations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name,” they told TMZ.
But this is far from the first time R. Kelly has been embroiled in controversies with women far younger than him.
1. Literally everything to do with Aaliyah
After meeting Aaliyah when she was 12-years-old, the already prominent singer Kelly produced her first album three years later – Age Ain’t Nothin But a Number – and wed the singer in 1994.
The falsified marriage certificate said Aaliyah was 18 but she was actually 15 and he was 27 – the age of consent in Illinois is 17.
The marriage was annulled and the pair signed an agreement to never discuss the relationship.
In a GQ interview from 2016, Kelly said “because of Aaliyah’s passing, as I’ve always said, out of respect for her mother who’s sick and her father who’s passed, I will never have that conversation with anyone.”
2. He allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old
In 1996, Tiffany Hawkins claimed she began having sex with R. Kelly in 1991 when she was 15 and he was 24.
The relationship ended when she turned 18 and during a “hair-raising” seven-hour deposition, she revealed she was so distraught by the split she slit her wrists in a suicide attempt afterwards.
Days later, the case was settled out of court.
3. Multiple friends spoke out about his penchant for younger girls
His former protégé Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards told Jim DeRogatis, a reporter who covered R. Kelly’s alleged transgressions more than anyone else, that the star often filled the backstage area of his concerts with underage girls.
“He likes the babies, and that’s the sickness,” she said. “He can control her and she don’t know no better.”
Five years after Kelly’s affair with Aaliyah, her uncle Barry Hankerson resigned as his manager and wrote a letter to the singer’s attorney that says he believes Kelly needs psychiatric help for his compulsion to pursue underage girls.
4. Multiple sex tapes of R. Kelly allegedly with underage girls sent to newspapers
The Chicago Sun-Times, which eventually did an in-depth exposé on R.Kelly, was first sent a video of possible child pornography involving the singer in 2001.
In 2002, the paper was sent another video that supposedly showed Kelly having sex with an underage girl before urinating on her – the girl’s aunt confirmed her identity and said she would have been 14 at the time of the tape.
More disturbingly, the girl at the centre of the second tape was purportedly his goddaughter.
The second tape led to his indictment and DeRogatis, the Chicago Sun-Times reporter behind the report, spoke on how disturbing the video was.
“You watch the video for which he was indicted and there is the disembodied look of the rape victim. He orders her to call him Daddy.
“He urinates in her mouth and instructs her at great length on how to position herself to receive his ‘gift.’
“It’s a rape that you’re watching.
“So we’re not talking about rock-star misbehavior, which men or women can do. We’re talking about predatory behavior. Their lives were ruined.”
5. R. Kelly is indicted on 21 counts of child pornography charges
When the case finally went to court eight years later, the singer was acquitted of all charges.
Both the girl allegedly in the video and Kelly deny it was them and neither testified at court.
The judge threw a party after the acquittal inviting the defense, prosecution, court personnel and reporters covering the trial.
6. Kelly allegedly hit his wife
In 2005, Kelly’s wife Andrea Lee accused the singer of hitting her after she asked for a divorce.
However, the pair didn’t divorce until a year after his trial four years later, and she suggested the allegations of sex abuse and child pornography were untrue in 2007.
7. He dated his publicist’s daughter who he’d known since he was 7
Shortly before the trial, his longtime publicist Regina Daniels quit, despite defending him against the litany of accusations in the past, citing that he had “crossed a line” but wouldn’t elaborate.
Later, her husband, who also worked with Kelly, said the star had a secret relationship with his daughter that he labelled a betrayal.
George Daniels accused the singer of luring his daughter – who was “like [Kelly’s] sister” – away from her studies with expensive gifts, including a car.
An added extra cringe
When journalist Rembert Browne asked R. Kelly who he considered his “peer” – someone that was on his level of excellence – in 2013, the singer’s response was Chris Brown.
The same Chris Brown that bashed his girlfriend Rihanna.
Yes, the very same Chris Brown whose ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran took out a restraining order against him after he allegedly threatened to kill her.
I mean, they certainly do have similarities: the effect the allegations have had on their assault.
Chris Brown has released eight studio albums, five of which were after he beat Rihanna, and R Kelly has released a staggering 23 albums.
