Singer R Kelly has lashed out at Lady Gaga for distancing herself from him in the wake of the docu-series Surviving R Kelly, in which several women accused him of emotional and sexual abuse.
“She’s a very great talent and all and it’s unfortunate that her intelligence go to such a short level when it comes to that,” Kelly said, in an interview with CBS This Morning.
In January, Gaga described the allegations against Kelly as “absolutely horrifying and indefensible” and said she stands behind and believes Kelly’s accusers. She apologized for their 2013 collaboration “Do What U Want (With My Body).
“I can’t go back, but I can go forward and continue to support women, men, and people of all sexual identities, and of all races, who are victims of sexual assault,” she said.
Also speaking out against Kelly was John Legend, who tweeted in January: “I believe these women and don’t give a f**k about protecting a serial child rapist.”
Asked by Gayle King about these reactions, Kelly said he has “nothing against” Gaga or Legend. “But,” he added, “I think it’s not professional for them to do that because something like this can happen to any artist.
“Anybody famous. Anybody famous can get accused of so many different things. This is Earth and this can happen to anybody.”
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Kelly declined to discuss the 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse he was charged with last month in Chicago. Three of the four alleged victims were between the ages of 13 and 16.
But, the R&B star said he was being unfairly targeted.
“People are going back to my past, that’s exactly what they are doing, they are going back to the past and they are trying to add all of this stuff now to that, to make all of this stuff that’s going on now feel real to people,” Kelly said.
In 2008, he was acquitted of child pornography charges after a videotape surfaced allegedly showing him engaged in sex with, and urinating on, a 14-year-old girl.
King suggested Kelly’s history of inappropriate relations with underage girls was relevant.
“Absolutely no, it’s not,” Kelly fired back. “For one, I beat my case. When you beat something, you beat it. You can’t double-jeopardy me like that. It’s not fair. When you beat your case, you beat your case.”
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Kelly became emotional when King asked him about claims in Surviving R Kelly that he was holding young women against their will.
“I don’t need to. 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,” he fumed, “let alone four, five, six, 50, you said – how stupid would I be to do that?”
Kelly looked directly into the camera. “That’s stupid, guys! 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 have to be a monster and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat and don’t let them 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! I’m fighting for my f**king life.”
When Kelly said he was in a relationship with Jocelyn Savage and Azriel Clary – whose families have made accusations against Kelly – King asked why he keeps them away from their families? His response? “What kind of father, what kind of mother would sell their daughter to a man?"
Kelly said he agreed to do the interview because he was tired of all the “lies” about him.
“All of them, got little girls trapped in the basement," he said. "Helicopters over my house trying to rescue someone that doesn’t need rescuing because they’re not in my house. Handcuffing people, starving people. I have a harem, what you call it – a cult.
“I don’t even really know what a cult is. But I know I don’t have one.”