R. Kelly insists sexual abuse allegations are 'not true' in new CBS interview

Dana Schwartz
Updated
R. Kelly claims sexual abuse allegations are not true in new interview with Gayle King

UPDATE: Gayle King’s full interview with R. Kelly, his first big sit-down with press since he was indicted on 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse against four women, aired Wednesday on CBS This Morning.

In the segment, compiled from more than 80 minutes of footage between King and Kelly, the R&B singer broke down in tears, shouted at the camera, and began beating his chest while he repeatedly denied the claims against him. He later apologized to King, who remained composed as he stormed the set, and explained “this is the first time I was able to say anything.”

“I’m very tired of all of these lies,” Kelly began the interview. “I’ve been hearing things and seeing things on the blogs. I’m just tired.”

When asked what disturbs him most, he replied, “All of them. Got little girls trapped in the basement, helicopters over my house trying to rescue someone that doesn’t need rescuing because they’re not in my house, handcuffing people, starving people,I have a harem, what you call it – a cult. I don’t even really know what a cult is, but I know I don’t have one.”

King continued to press Kelly on the indictments, as well as the numerous women who have come forward over the years, more recently in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries.

“So they’re lying on you?” she asked. “That’s your explanation? They’re lying on you?”

“Absolutely,” Kelly said. “I have been assassinated. I have been buried alive, but I’m alive.”

As the line of questioning continued, Kelly became more and more heated until he responded directly to the camera.

“I gave you 30 years of my f–ing career!” he shouted, now on his feet and circling his chair. “Thirty years of my career! And y’all trying to kill me? You killing me, man! This is not about music! I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids! And I can’t do it! Y’all just don’t want to believe the truth! You don’t want to believe it!”

EARLIER (March 5, 8:38 p.m. ET): At the end of February, R&B singer R. Kelly was indicted on 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse against four victims, three of which were minors. After turning himself over, the singer spent a single night in jail before being released on $1 million bond. He pled not guilty.

Now, in a clip from his new CBS interview with Gayle King set to air on Wednesday, the singer claims that the accusations against him are “rumors.”

“Do you still sit here and say that you have never been with underage girls?” King asks.

“I’ll sit here and say this,” responds Kelly. “I had two cases back then that I said in the beginning of the interview that I would not talk about because of my ongoing case now. But, I will tell you this: People are going back to my 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.”

When King notes his alleged sordid history (in 2008, Kelly was put on trial for child pornography for an infamous videotape that supposedly showed him urinating on an underage girl), saying, “But the past is relevant with you with underage girls,” Kelly snaps. “Absolutely no, it’s not, because, for one, I beat my case,” he says. King notes that he was acquitted (the girl allegedly in the tape refused to testify), prompting Kelly to reply: “You can’t double jeopardy me like that. It’s not fair. When you beat your case you beat your case.”

“But I’m not talking about the one case in which you were acquitted,” says King. “I’m talking about the other cases where women have come forward and said ‘R. Kelly had sex with me when I was under the age of 18. R. Kelly was abusive to me, emotionally, physically, and verbally. R. Kelly took me in a black room where unspeakable things happened.’ This is what they’re saying about you.” Insists Kelly, “Whether they’re old rumors, new rumors, future rumors, not true.”

As King continues her questioning in the promo, referencing a 2017 report that said Kelly held women against their will in an abusive “cult,” Kelly becomes more animated and emotional. “How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way, way past, to hold somebody?” he asks. The performer then looks into the camera to speak directly to viewers, “That’s stupid, guys! Is this camera on me? That’s stupid! Use your common sense… Stop it. All you quit playing. Quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my fucking life!”

The full interview with Kelly will air Wednesday at 7 a.m. ET on CBS This Morning.