Angry R. Kelly blasts accusers in first interview since arrest

Hit singer R. Kelly broke down in tears, and raged and pleaded with fans to believe him in his first interview since his arrest for allegedly raping underaged girls.

“Quit playing, I didn’t do this stuff,” the pop singer begged into the camera as he sat with Gayle King of CBS News on Tuesday.

“This is not me. I’m fighting for my f*****g life.”

Photos posted by King on her instagram of the interview show an animated Kelly looming over her as he angrily waves his right arm, while an unidentified man attempts to restrain him by holding his left.

Throughout the interview Kelly pleaded his innocence saying, “Not true, whether they’re old rumours, new rumours, future rumours … Not true.”

Kelly was indicted on February 22 in a Chicago courtroom on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against four victims, three of whom were underage at the time the alleged crimes were committed. According to prosecutors one of the charges is based on a videotape that purportedly shows Kelly and a 14-year-old girl engaged in sexual acts.

Kelly repeatedly claimed the new charges were a way for prosecutors to try to get around the double jeopardy law, which says he may not be charged for the same offence twice, since he was acquitted of making child pornography back in 2008.

“I beat my case,” he said. “We can’t double-jeopardy me like that.

“You can’t. It’s not fair. It’s not fair to nobody. When you beat your case, you beat your case.”

When asked if he ever held a girl against her will, R. Kelly replied, “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 4, 5, 6, 50, you said – 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.”

Meanwhile, attorney Michael Avenatti, who said he represents two of the alleged victims in the indictment and a third accuser, told reporters last week that he had turned over a second videotape to prosecutors.

The 55-minute video dating from around 2000 also showed a 14-year-old girl, though Avenatti did not specify whether it was the same girl.

The charges against the performer came just weeks after the Lifetime television network aired the six-hour documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, in which multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse.

(Compiled by Warren Robertson)

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.