Judge Orders R. Kelly’s $28,000 in Prison Inmate Account to Be Seized
R Kelly
R. Kelly’s Co-Defendant and Former Business Manager Says He Didn’t Believe Early Sex Abuse Claims
R. Kelly’s ex-business manager says he didn’t believe claims from decades ago that the singer sexually abused underage girls.
Testifying yesterday in front of a federal jury, Derrel McDavid said he was convinced that the allegations were just part of a plot orchestrated by the singer’s enemies to destroy him.
McDavid admitted to jurors that he had seen the prosecution’s star witness, according to the AP. Referred to by the pseudonym “Jane” at the current trial, when she was a minor hanging around Kelly’s studio in the late 1990s. He said Kelly “angrily denied” any rumors that he was sexually abusing Jane, who Kelly described as his god daughter at the time.
“I believed him,” McDavid testified.
READ MORE: Prosecution Closing Out, Defense Expected To Call Witnesses In R. Kelly Trial
McDavid is on trial alongside Kelly in Chicago. He is charged with helping the convicted R&B singer foil an earlier 2008 child-pornography trial that resulted in Kelly’s acquittal.
This comes nearly two months after Kelly was given a 30-year sentence in New York City on racketeering and other sex trafficking charges. He has maintained his innocence.
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Tevin Campbell on Usher’s Claim of Being Unbeatable in VERZUZ: ‘There’s R. Kelly’
Tevin Campbell recently stunned the audience at Usher’s Residency in Las Vegas with a surprise performance of his classic “Can We Talk.”
Fresh off the appearance in Vegas, TMZ tracked down Campbell at LAX and asked him about his time with Usher. During the conversation, Campbell was pressed on who was the “King of R&B,” a title that people have awarded Usher recently.
Campbell would agree but says R. Kelly would stomp all over that if he was not locked up. After initially resisting the comparisons of artists and giving some love to the likes of Marvin Game, Campbell shared a name after the reporter mentioned VERZUZ opponents.
“There’s R. Kelly,” Campbell said.”R. Kelly has a lot of hits, and he wrote all of them. When I think of someone with a lot of hits, I think of R. Kelly. Not only his hits, but he has written for so many other people.”
He would add, “That whole VERZUZ thing is great I just don’t believe in the competition.”
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R. Kelly Prosecutors Rest Case As Final Survivor Testifies In Child Pornography Trial
Federal prosecutors are wrapping up week three in the R. Kelly child pornography trial on Tuesday with the testimony of their final accuser. The final survivor, “Nia,” shared her experiences with the disgraced singer as a minor. The Final Survivor Federal prosecutors are resting their case in the R. Kelly child pornography trial at Dirksen […]
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R. Kelly’s Child Pornography Case Has Two More Victims Come Forward
Two more survivors came forward on Monday as the R. Kelly federal child pornography trial in Chicago entered week three. “Tracy” and “Pauline” detail their encounters with the singer during their testimonies. Harrowing Testimonies On Monday, two more survivors alleged that R. Kelly engaged them in sexual acts while they were underage. The R. Kelly […]
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R. Kelly’s Daughter Claims She’s Been Turned Down By Labels Due To Her Father’s Reputation
The children of entertainers usually have a better chance to follow in their parent’s footsteps. For R. Kelly’s daughter, that is not the case. R.Kelly’s daughter Joann Kelly, who goes by the stage name Buku Abi, recently sat down with her mother, Drea Kelly, on Majic 107.5. The daughter of the disgraced singer says that […]
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R. Kelly’s Daughter Says His Reputation Has Stalled Her Own Music Career
The consequences of R. Kelly‘s actions are impacting other members of his family, specifically his daughter.
Speaking with her mother, Drea Kelly, during a visit to Majic 107.5 in Atlanta, Joann Kelly, professionally known as Buku Abi, revealed that she was unable to secure a record deal due to R. Kelly’s sex crimes.
“For me, the experience has been, ‘You’re only getting this because of who your parents are,’ and then, ‘You’re not getting this because of who your parents are,’” Kelly said.
She then added, “the first time I ever wrote a song was at 13, and from 13 up until 24, I’ve been trying to get into the music business. Trying to get into the industry and all those years, it’s either been you’re getting it because of who your dad is or you not getting it because of who your dad is.”
Joann Kelly would state she would be near closing a deal, but once her father’s identity would be found out, it would go away.
Meanwhile in Chicago, R. Kelly’s trial is underway, and received testimony from his goddaughter. According to TMZ, Kells’ goddaughter stated the singer had sex with her hundreds of times before she turned 18. She added the first time they had sex was when she was just 15 years old. She is the same alleged victim from the 2008 trial, which included a sex tape.
The alleged victim stated she gave in to the sexual relationship with the singer because she was afraid to say no. Kelly’s goddaughter is now 37 and requested the singer to be her godfather when she was 13. After that, the relationship would turn sexual.
At age 14, R. Kelly allegedly first groped her breasts for the first time at a Chicago recording studio. She stated she had sex an uncountable amount of times with Kelly before she turned 18. The locations of their encounters included Kelly’s home, studio, tour bus, and rented hotel rooms.
Stating she was intimidated and didn’t know how to say no, the alleged victim revealed the sexual relationship lasted so long it began to feel normal.
During their relationship, the woman testified that she was asked to recruit additional teenage girls for sex, and Kelly recorded an encounter when she was just 14.
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R. Kelly’s & Co-defendants Legal Team Cross-examines Man Who Stated He Was Paid To Retrieve R. Kelly’s Sex Tapes
Charles Freeman took the stand in the R. Kelly Chicago trial and testified the singer agreed to pay him $1 million to secure sex tapes with minors. According to Rolling Stone, Freeman detailed a timeline and operated during Kelly’s federal child pornography trial.
Freeman was cross-examined on Wednesday, the eighth day of the trial. Legal representation for Kelly, Jennifer Bonjean, and representation for Kelly’s co-defendants highlighted Freeman received immunity for his cooperation, and he contradicted himself from a previous testimony with a Cook County grand jury.
Throughout cross-examination, Freeman reportedly chuckled and stated he was having a good time with the court proceedings. Near the end of the day, he was defensive, citing a full assessment of who he was, and was not being properly painted.
Freeman highlighted he and Kelly had been friends since 1991 and was hired with confidence. The call to recover the sex tapes occurred in 2001. The tapes reportedly showed Kelly in sexual acts with a minor. Freeman noted that he would receive a call from the late Jack Palladino, a private investigator known for assisting Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein, declaring he would receive a reward.
Freeman stated he signed a contract in August 2001 that revealed he would receive $100,000 and covered expenses for retrieving the tape. An additional deal would earn him $1 million total. The only presented evidence of the deal came from a 2008 lawsuit that was reportedly settled in the payment of an additional $150,000.
Freeman stated he still had copies of the tape in 2019 but turned them over to authorities once he was the subject of investigation.
The prosecution’s case against Kelly is expected to conclude next week.
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A Witness In The R. Kelly Trial Says He Was Offered $1 Million To Recover A Child Sex Tape
Recently, it was reported that R. Kelly wanted to ban jurors if they had watched any portion of the 2019 doc series Surviving R. Kelly, which was denied. Now, the Chicago Tribune has reported today that the prosecution’s top witness was Charles Freeman, who became friends with Kelly after doing merchandise for him in the 90s. Around 2001, Kelly asked him to “recover some tapes.”
Freeman was allegedly told he would get a “reward” for the video, the contents of which he claimed to not know at the time. Derrel McDavid, one of Kelly’s co-defendants, had described it to him as a “performance tape,” and if Freeman got it back, “they would take care of me.” In August of that year, Freeman signed a contract saying if he recovered the tape he would get $100,000 plus expenses, and McDavid allegedly told him he could earn $1 million for the job. But he said that McDavid emphasized that they “need the originals and make sure this is the actual evidence tape… It would look bad if we gave you a million dollars for a tape and it’s not the tape that we want.”
Freeman said that one of the tapes showed Kelly “with a young lady having sex.” He said he still had copies of the tape as recently as 2019 and turned them over to the authorities upon learning that cops were looking into him. When asked why he didn’t turn them over immediately, Freeman answered, “Because the police wasn’t going to pay me a million dollars.” Read more about the situation here.
Prosecutors Say “R. Kelly Has A Dark Side” Assaulted Minors, Paid To Cover Up Evidence
Convicted singer R. Kelly is currently on trial in his hometown of Chicago for 13 counts of child pornography and obstruction of justice. The federal prosecutors intend to prove 55-year-old Kelly had sex with minors and then paid witnesses off to get rid of the evidence.
According to the state, Kelly has a “dark side” that he kept hidden from the world behind his fame. Prosecutors allege Kelly’s “inner circle” helped the singer cover up his abuse and went to “extraordinary lengths” to do so.
READ MORE: R. Kelly Alleged Victim From ’08 Case Will Testify In New Child Pornography Trial
This comes nearly two months after he was given a 30-year sentence in New York City on racketeering and other sex trafficking charges. Kelly has maintained his innocence.
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