Since R. Kelly was charged with ten counts of criminal sexual abuse, he has not made any public statements, but on today’s episode of CBS This Morning, he sat down with Gayle King for his first interview since his arrest.
When asked why he wanted to do the interview, he responded, “I’m very tired of all the lies. I’ve been hearing things and seeing things on the blogs, and I’m just tired.” At one point, King asked Kelly if he has ever had sex with any woman under the age of 17, and he said he had not, and added, “So nobody’s allowed to be mad at me and be scorned and lie on me?”
Later on, King asked if Kelly’s point is that he had never held anybody against their will. Kelly answered:
“How stupid would it be for me, 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! […] 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 them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out, unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle!”
At this point, Kelly appeared overwhelmed and was on the verge of tears, and exclaimed while standing up and becoming emotional:
“Stop it! Y’all quit playing. Quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff. This is not me. I’m fighting for my f*cking life. Y’all killing me with this sh*t! I gave you 30 years of my f*cking career! 30 years of my career, and y’all trying to kill me! You’re killing me, man! This is not about music! I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids, and I can’t do it! Y’all just don’t want to believe the truth! You don’t want to believe it!”
Watch clips from Kelly’s interview below.
In an explosive new interview, R. Kelly is breaking his silence about the sexual abuse charges that landed him in jail last month. The embattled R&B singer told @GayleKing that all the women now accusing him of physical and sexual abuse are lying. https://t.co/u4AENVsfAE pic.twitter.com/dVtVjc4Fx4
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
Have you done anything you regret, have you done anything wrong? — @GayleKing
“Lots of things wrong when it comes to women that I apologize, but I apologized in those relationships at the time that I was in the relationship, OK?” — @RKellyhttps://t.co/u4AENVsfAE pic.twitter.com/4GgwQ6y65k
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
"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." — @RKelly pic.twitter.com/0NG6C7Yf5Y
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
In 2008, R. Kelly was found not guilty on 14 counts of child pornography after prosecutors failed to convince a jury that he was the man seen in a sex tape with a girl as young as 13.
Last month, he was indicted again, charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse of 4 women. pic.twitter.com/GgotWiYXrP
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
Have you ever had sex with anyone under the age of 17? — @GayleKing
"No. No." — @RKelly
Never?
"No!" https://t.co/u4AENVsfAE pic.twitter.com/OGjRzY1P2t
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
“Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn't do this stuff! This is not me! I'm fighting for my f***ing life! Y'all killing me with this sh*t!" @RKelly told @GayleKing, standing up. "I gave you 30 years of my f***ing career!"https://t.co/u4AENVJQsc pic.twitter.com/jLF7l8etYh
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
WATCH: R. Kelly addressed his current relationship with the two young women who live with him at his home in Chicago, 23-year-old Joycelyn Savage and 21-year-old Azriel Clary. Their parents believe Kelly has brainwashed their daughters.https://t.co/pPZcw2pbmc pic.twitter.com/IbH3PjbSVx
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
Do you still expect people to buy your music?
“Absolutely. I think they should… I'm really not really fighting for my career here. I'm fighting for my rights & I'm fighting to have a relationship with my kids most of all, more than anything.” -@RKelly https://t.co/o5wfERQxnZ pic.twitter.com/gABTkh97PN
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
If your daughters came to you and said, "Look, this guy is doing to me what the allegations are against you." — @GayleKing
“Then I would have to arrest myself after I did what I had to do.” — @RKelly https://t.co/o5wfERQxnZ #rkellyinterview pic.twitter.com/B8Xkq1QJMj
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019
