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Prosecutors in the R. Kelly child pornography trial dubbed Lisa Van Allen, the singer’s former lover, their star witness. According to the testimony of Van Allen, who turned 28 last week, in the late nineties she claims that she participated in sexual threesomes with Kelly and an underage girl at the center of the trial. Kelly’s attorneys denied much of what she had to say, even branding her a liar and a thief who just wanted money from the R&B superstar. Last week Kelly was acquitted of all 14 child pornography charges. Van Allen, who received immunity for her testimony, talked to Essence.com to tell her side of the story on her rocky relationship with Kelly, the sex tape and why she came forward.
Essence.com: What are your feelings about the verdict?
Lisa Van Allen: I’m not surprised. The evidence against him was there, but the case seemed to be going in the defense’s favor. I never thought he would actually go to jail, just based on what I’ve seen happen with celebrities when they get in trouble. I thought he’d get a slap on the wrist, like, “Don’t do it again.” But I at least wanted him to be held responsible for what he had done.
Essence.com: How did you meet R. Kelly?
Van Allen: I met him in Alpharetta, Georgia, at the “Home Alone” video shoot, probably in ’98. I was 17, and he was 31. I was fresh out of high school. My friend’s girlfriend was going to the video shoot, and he didn’t want her to go by herself. I just tagged along with her and ended up being an extra in it.
Essence.com: So how did you go from being an extra to meeting him personally?
Van Allen: He sent his cousin over to me. This guy told me his cousin wanted to talk to me. I asked him who his cousin was, and he said, “R. Kelly.” I said, “Okay,” and he arranged for me to be taken back to his trailer. In between the scenes, he came back to the trailer and talked to me. I was very flattered. Out of all the girls at the video shoot, he picked me out of everybody to talk to. We ended up having intercourse.
Essence.com: You had sex with him in the trailer that same day?
Van Allen: Yes. He started with a kiss, and from there we leaned back, and I just didn’t stop him. I was kind of worried that he wouldn’t want to see me again after that, but I wasn’t worried about the actual act at that time because I was just honored that he picked me. Being a young girl, I was like, “Wow.” I wasn’t thinking as a woman would. Now that I’m older, things are different. I would never go that route today. As a child, you don’t make all the right decisions. That’s why young girls shouldn’t be involved with grown men.
Essence.com: So do you feel like he seduced you?
Van Allen: No, I don’t feel like he seduced me. He was just being really nice, and I was basically going along with whatever he wanted to do. We didn’t talk about much. He was just asking me my name and how old I was. When I said my age, he asked me if my mom would let me come to Chicago and visit. I told him, “Yeah.”
Essence.com: How did your relationship with R. Kelly evolve from there?
Van Allen: I actually didn’t call him for about a month, because I didn’t know what to say to him. When I did finally call him, he got straight to the point and said, “When can you come up here?” I visited him maybe twice in Chicago before I moved there. He would tell me, “Don’t leave yet; I want to talk to you.” I kept missing my flights back home and missed days from my job at the mall. So I ended up quitting my job and moved to Chicago.
Essence.com: Where did you live?
Van Allen: I stayed at the studio the majority of the time, but I also had a hotel room. He was always at the studio. He had closets full of clothes there, a bed, a refrigerator, a big-screen TV, a shower, the whole works. You would think it was a mini apartment.
Essence.com: Did you feel emotionally connected with him, or was it mostly a sexual relationship?
Van Allen: I thought we were really good friends and were really close. Once I moved up there, we did everything together. He’d be in the studio recording; I’d be there. He’d go to video shoots; I’d be there. He even went to get a colon cleanse, and I went with him. It wasn’t only sexual, but sex was a major part.
Essence.com: Was he very controlling when it came to sex?
Van Allen: Yeah. He would always tell you what to do. You’d come into a situation where he’d want to have sex, and he’d coach you through the whole thing. He’d tell you which way to lie, which way to turn, what noises to make, how loud to moan, how to roll your body around. It was weird, but being that I was so young I still didn’t know what was the right way to do things sexually. I was still learning. He was a man, so I just followed his lead. I figured he knew more about this stuff, and that this is how it’s supposed to go.
Essence.com: One of the more appalling aspects of the tape at the center of the trial is that the man peed on the girl in the video. Is that something R. Kelly did with you?
Van Allen: No, he never asked me to do that. We had never had a conversation about it, and he never tried to do that with me.
Essence.com: Given the age difference, I’m curious about what you felt you had in common with him.
Van Allen: See, that’s the thing—he doesn’t act his age. His conversations are pretty much on a 17- or 18-year-old’s grade level. He would crack jokes a lot. We would go to McDonald’s all the time. He liked to go to Hoops, a basketball gym, every night. He would go to the mall a lot. So he was basically doing what kids that age were doing.
Essence.com: Did you consider him to be your boyfriend?
Van Allen: In my head I did, until I found out later that he was married.
Essence.com: How did you find out he was married?
Van Allen: One night when he was in the studio recording, one of his runners came in and said, “Your wife’s on the line.” Rob [R. Kelly; Van Allen also calls him Robert] got upset and walked him out in the hallway and cussed him out. We never saw that runner again. From then on, his runners never said “your wife.” They always said, “You have an important call.” But I was sitting right there. I was upset, but I tried not to show it. I thought I was the closest woman to him, and I thought we had a little relationship going. It crushed my dreams of what was going on.
Essence.com: Did the two of you discuss his wife after that?
Van Allen: He would bring her up, but I never asked him “Why are you with her?” or “Why didn’t you tell me?” He would just try to downplay the situation—“I wish I met you before I married her” or “You remind me of her, but you look so much better.” Things like that. He would try to make me feel good about the situation.
Essence.com: So finding out he was married didn’t end the relationship?
Van Allen: No. I was already living up there, probably for about six months at that time. We were supposedly in love; he would tell me he loved me. So no, it didn’t end. I was young.
Essence.com: Have you ever met his wife?
Van Allen: I haven’t met her like “How are you doing?” But we’ve checked into hotels at the same time. She’s been in the studio at the same time as me, and we’ve crossed paths. But I was never introduced to her. I don’t think she knew who I was to him, but she definitely knew that I was around a lot. I don’t know much about how their relationship works. He was around me a lot, so they would have to have had separate lives.
Essence.com: In Chicago, how did you support yourself? Did you have a job?
Van Allen: No, he took care of everything. I did whatever he was doing. The day would start in the evening. We’d get a bite to eat, he’d record a little, then we’d go to Hoops. Then we’d go to McDonald’s. He’d record through the whole night, and then we’d sleep all morning.
Essence.com: About his alleged attraction for teenage girls—is that true?
Van Allen: We never had a conversation about him preferring teenage girls, but yes. Just from me, and the situation supposedly with the singer who’s passed—
Essence.com: You mean, his marriage to Aaliyah when she was 15?
Van Allen: Yes. And the situation we had with the younger girl [the girl who was allegedly in the video, who was at the center of the trial]. There would never be any older women around, women his age. It would always be girls my age at that time.
Essence.com: Did he ever discuss Aaliyah?
Van Allen: Briefly. I don’t really know if I should discuss him and Aaliyah’s situation. Basically, all he told me about that was that they did get married and that they went to Vegas for the marriage. He didn’t say how old she was.
Essence.com: When did you meet the girl alleged to be in the video?
Van Allen: I met her in ’98 also. I was 18 when I met her. My birthday is in June, so half of ’98 I was 17, and the other half I was 18. I met her at his house for a threesome. That was the first of three times we all had sex together. He videotaped it. He would tell us what to do—to kiss and touch each other, do oral on each other, oral on him. Things like that. It seemed like it was pretty routine for her. She seemed to know what to do. Not to say anything bad about her, but it didn’t seem to bother her. [R. Kelly has denied these allegations in court and was acquitted of all charges against him. ]
Essence.com: Did you know how old she was?
Van Allen: He told me that she was 16. With me having just turned 18 at that time, it didn’t seem like a big age difference. I didn’t look at it as, “I’m 18, I’m a grown woman.” I saw her as being my age.
Essence.com: How did you find out how old she really was?
Van Allen: I didn’t find out until after we’d had our sexual encounters. We were heading to a video shoot in a car together, and she was speaking about her birthday. And she was saying that when she turned 16 she wanted to get a PT Cruiser. She was supposed to have already been 16. And at this time, it was like a year after we had already done what we had done. So it led me to believe she was at least two years younger than she was supposed to have been back then. I was shocked. I felt betrayed because of how close I thought he and I were. I thought he would have been able to be honest with me. I didn’t bring it up or say anything to him about it. I just knew that was a situation I didn’t want to be put in again.
Essence.com: You had never suspected she was younger than 16?
Van Allen: Not at that time, no. She acted like she was my age. And she was developed more than me. I just didn’t know.
Continue to read our exclusive interview with Lisa Van Allen »
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