R. Kelly in his first TV interview since he was charged with sexual abuse, has tearfully denied allegations of sexual abuse.
In a teaser video with CBS, R. Kelly broke down in tears as he denied claims that he slept with underage girls.
“I didn’t do this stuff. This is not me. I’m fighting for my f****** life.”
Speaking to CBS news reporter Gayle King, Kelly said the earlier trial was being used to give the latest accusations credence.
“They’re going back to the past and they’re trying to add all of this stuff now to that, to make all of the stuff that’s going on now feel real to people,” he said, in a clip released ahead of the full interview.
“But the past is relevant with you with underage girls,” Gayle replied.
“Absolutely no it’s not,” Kelly protested. “Because, for one I beat my case. You can’t double jeopardy me like that. When you beat your case, you beat your case”.
Kelly who got emotional at some point during the interview, denied accusations raised in the recent documentary Surviving R Kelly, that he held women against their will, confiscating their phones, restricting their food, and denying them access to their families.
Kelly asked King: “How stupid would it be for R Kelly, with all I’ve been through to hold somebody? How stupid would I be to do that?”
“Use your common sense,” he continued, raising his voice and turning to address the camera.
“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 [to say], ‘Oh right now, I just think I need to be a monster and hold girls against their will and chain them up in my basement?”
“Quit playing, quit playing,” he said, becoming tearful. This is not me.”
Kelly was indicted last month on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse — a class 2 felony — involving four alleged victims.
The indictment accuses Kelly of s3xual acts
with three children older than 13 but younger than 17.
There is no age range listed for one of the alleged victims. The charges say Kelly used force or the threat of force.
His attorney, Steve Greenberg, has said his client is innocent.
“I think all the women are lying,” Greenberg said after Kelly turned himself in to police.
The charges span from 1998 to 2010, according to Cook County, Illinois, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
If convicted, Kelly faces three to seven years in prison for each count.
Kelly has been associated with accusations of abuse, manipulation and inappropriate encounters with girls and young women for more than two decades.
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