R. Kelly has denied the assault allegations, in case anyone gives a shit about what he has to say
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but a man accused of sexual assault is not only denying that he did anything wrong but implying that it’s absurd to even think that he could’ve possibly done anything wrong and that he is the real victim here. The man this time around is R. Kelly, who sat down with CBS’ Gayle King for a dramatic interview that will air tomorrow morning. This all comes just a few weeks after R. Kelly was charged with 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse as more allegations of sexual assault came out in the wake of the harrowing Surviving R. Kelly documentary series, and whether or not he’s guilty of the monstrous things he’s been accused of, it’s clear in this interview that the whole thing has him on edge.
CBS has shared a clip of King’s conversation with Kelly, and in it he laments the fact that people are “going back to the past” to find things to accuse him of, and he claims that all rumors about him—be they from the past, present, or future—are false. Things start to get heated in the preview, though, when King suggests that his past is important in regards to these new accusations because of the previous accusations about him having sex with underage girls, to which he responds that the past is “absolutely” not relevant. He repeatedly says “I beat my case,” which is not the same as saying that he didn’t do anything wrong, and he gets visibly frustrated at the fact that—according to him—people are trying to “double-jeopardy” him on the previous assault charges.
Things take a real turn later in the clip, though, when King simply tries to get a straight answer from him on whether or not the allegations about him holding women captive have any merit. Looking directly into the camera, a shouting Kelly offers this defense:
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, let alone four, five, six, 50… how stupid would I be to do that? 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, 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!
Later, still yelling and still looking into the camera instead of at King, Kelly says, “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my fucking life!” The clip itself is below, and the full interview will air tomorrow morning—followed by another interview on Friday with King and a pair of women who are currently living with Kelly.