R. Kelly’s former manager turns himself in on charges of terroristic threats

Ben Kaye
Updated
Meanwhile, Kelly's current manager, Don Russell, is being investigated for similar threats.

The fallout from the explosive Surviving R. Kelly documentary series has expanded beyond R. Kelly himself. One of the disgraced R&B singer’s former managers has turned himself into police on terrorism charges, while another is currently under investigation for similar threats.

Henry James Mason surrendered to police in Henry County, Georgia on charges of terroristic threats and acts on Friday, reports Atlanta’s WSB-TV. An arrest warrant for Kelly’s ex-manager was issued back in the summer of 2018, but was only widely publicized following the Lifetime docu-series (via CNN). According to SPIN, Mason has since been released on $100,000 bail on the condition of a restraining order preventing him from contact with his accusers.

The arrest stems from an accusation filed by Timothy Savage, the father of Jocelyn Savage, one of the women featured in Surviving R. Kelly. The Savages claim Jocelyn, 23, has been brainwashed by Kelly to be part of his alleged “sex cult” and has rarely spoken to her family since 2016. Timothy and his wife, JonJelyn, have given numerous interviews about Kelly, while Jocelyn infamously released a video denying she was being held captive.

Timothy claims Mason sent him threatening text messages last May warning him not to speak publicly about Kelly or their daughter. “I’m gonna do harm to you and your family, when I see you I’m gonna get you,” Mason allegedly wrote. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” The Savages also claim Mason made similar threats during a phone call around the same time.

A separate investigation has since been launched into Kelly’s current manager, Don Russell. Timothy and JonJelyn called police in the early morning of January 3rd, the day Surviving R. Kelly first aired, claiming they received a threatening text message from Russell. A incident report states Russell told Timothy “it would be best for him and his family if the documentary does not air” (via Henry Harold).

Officer W. Neville responded to the 911 call and was present when Russell later called the Savages. The phone was put on speaker and Neville reported hearing Russell claiming the Savages were providing false information to Lifetime, and that Kelly and Russell had proof. Russell added “that the information would ruin [Savage], his reputation, business, and family, because it would show him a liar.”

The incident is currently in the hands of the Henry County Police Department Criminal Investigations Division.

Kelly, meanwhile, is under investigation in Georgia, with a civil case in New York and a criminal probe in Chicago in various stages of progress. The troubled R&B singer has been alternatively hiding out in Chicago’s Trump Tower and admitting himself to the hospital with panic attacks in the wake of all the renewed attention to his well-documented alleged misdeeds. His label, RCA Records/Sony Music has yet to drop the singer from their roster, but have declared they will stop producing or financially supporting his projects until the investigations and fallout “resolve one way or the other.”