One week after he was released from a Chicago jail, R. Kelly is denying the 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against him.
The 52-year-old R&B singer sat down with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King — in an interview set to air Wednesday morning — to address the accusations.
“They are still talking about you with underage girls. Do you still sit here and say you have never been with underage girls. Can you really say that?” King questioned Kelly in a preview of the segment published on Twitter on Tuesday.
“Stop it. All you quit playing. Quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f***ing life!” R&B singer R. Kelly angrily denies sexual abuse claims in an explosive interview with @GayleKing; watch @CBSThisMorning, Weds. at 7a ET https://t.co/awWHvHZMMN pic.twitter.com/fGeYev4Elm
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 6, 2019
“I sit here and say this,” Kelly responded. “I had two cases back then that I said in the beginning of the interview that I would not talk about because of my ongoing case now.”
He continued: “Fair enough, but I will tell you this: people are going back to my past, OK? That’s exactly what they’re doing. They’re going back to the past, and they trying to add all of this stuff now to that. To make all of this stuff that’s going on now feels real to people.”
King pressed Kelly, telling him that “the past is relevant with you with underage girls.”
“Absolutely, no it’s not,” Kelly stated, adding: “Because for one, I beat my case. When you beat something, you beat it.”
“You were acquitted,” King noted of the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer’s child pornography charges in 2008.
“We can’t double-jeopardy me like that,” Kelly said. “You can’t. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to nobody. When you beat your case, you beat your case.”
In a second clip of the upcoming interview, King started off by stating that she wasn’t referring to the case, in which he was acquitted.
“I’m talking about the other cases where women have come forward and said: ‘R. Kelly had sex with me when I was under the age of 18. R. Kelly was abusive to me — emotionally and physically and verbally. R Kelly took me to a black room where unspeakable things happened.’ This is what they’re saying about you.”
Kelly, shaking his head, replied, “Not true!”
“These aren’t old rumors,” King said.
Kelly again stated: “Not true. Whether they’re old rumors, new rumors, future rumors, not true.”
Last month, Kelly was charged in a grand jury indictment unsealed on Feb. 22 with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were minors. The next day, Kelly was booked and a bond court judge set the singer’s bail at $1 million, requiring Kelly to pay 10 percent.
Kelly — who must not have contact with females younger than 18, according to the conditions of his release — initially was unable to come up with the $100,000 bail to be released, and spent the weekend in a Chicago jail.
On Feb. 25, Kelly posted bail. His release came hours after his lawyer pleaded not guilty on his behalf to all 10 counts.
In a final preview of the segment, King is heard saying, “Correct me if I’m wrong, that you have never held anybody against their will?”
“I don’t need to,” Kelly responded. “Why would I? How stupid would it be for R. Kelly with all I’ve been through in my way, way past to hold somebody, let alone four, five, six, 50, you said — How stupid would I be to do that!”
“That’s stupid, guys!” Kelly exclaimed before looking directly at the camera.
“That’s stupid. Use your common sense. Forget the blogs. Forget how you feel about me. Hate me if you want to, love me if you want, 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 and hold girls against their will, chain ’em up in my basement and don’t let ’em eat and don’t let ’em out unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle.’ Stop it. Y’all quit playing. Quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff.
“This is not me,” Kelly added as he started to cry. “I’m fighting for my f–king life!”
Allegations that Kelly violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves have followed the singer for decades. Kelly has repeatedly denied any sexual misconduct, and he was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who said he represents two people who have accused Kelly, said his legal team gave prosecutors a second video last month that shows Kelly sexually abusing a minor. Avenatti previously gave prosecutors video evidence that he said showed Kelly having sex with an underage girl.
“The conduct in the tape can be described as nothing short of outrageous, illegal. It leaves no question as to Mr. Kelly’s guilt,” Avenatti said.
Kelly’s defense attorney, Steve Greenberg, has previously said that his client has done nothing wrong, and no one has shown him evidence proving otherwise. “Everybody is entitled to a defense. Everybody is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” Greenberg said on February 22. “We should all be taking a step back. Let’s see what happens, what the evidence is and how this plays out.”
Kelly’s next court date is scheduled for March 22.
