Two R. Kelly exposés were published Friday, adding to the growing pressure on the R&B singer and his handlers amid the #MeToo and #MuteRKelly campaigns.
Jim DeRogatis, the long-time chronicler of R. Kelly’s sexual deviation, wrote a story for Buzzfeed with two new women coming forward to share their accounts of dealing with R. Kelly. They include a former girlfriend who dated him in the 90s and the mother of one of his current “girlfriends”. The mother says that her daughter has been “brainwashed” by the singer.
The Washington Post also documented how the powers that be have allowed R. Kelly to continue working, including his label RCA Records, despite the singer dodging rumors for at least two decades.
R. Kelly’s former tour manager, Demetrius Smith, told the Post that he had warned Clive Calder about R. Kelly’s behavior (Calder was the founder of R. Kelly’s first label). When confronted Calder said that he was “not a psychiatrist.”
“…This guy is a troubled guy,” he added. “Clearly, we missed something.”
The Post article also includes two new women who are coming forward for the first time.
R. Kelly’s camp continues to push back on the growing number of accusations coming the singer’s way, telling NPR that “he treated his women friends well.”
“Mr. Kelly does not deny that during his youth and early success, he slept with many women, some of whom sought his company because of his success, and some of whom in later years now view their interaction with him negatively,” his team said. “He hopes and believes he treated his women friends well, and if any of them now feel differently about how they were treated, he respects their feelings and has no interest in attacking them or seeking to invalidate their feelings.”
His camp also told the Associated Press that R. Kelly was “heartbroken” by the new allegations.
R. Kelly’s lawyer, assistant, and publicist dumped the singer recently following recent allegations made in BBC Three documentary R. Kelly: Sex, Girls, and Videotapes. R. Kelly was also recently accused of infecting a woman with an STD after grooming her for his sex cult.
And as calls for RCA Records to drop R. Kelly remain unanswered, radio host Tom Joyner agreed last month to stop supporting the singer’s music on his popular morning show.