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11 Questionable Things R. Kelly Has Said and Done

He has a history, y'all.

Speculations about R. Kelly’s alleged sex “cult” are still piling up. And until legal proceedings provide further information, it looks as though they’ll continue growing.

The layers of details include accusations from parents of young women who they allege have been taken hostage by the R&B idol, according to a report that surfaced from BuzzFeed News this week (July 17). From forcing them into filmed sexual escapades to making them to call him “Daddy” to holing them up away from their families and taking their cellphones away, the heinous crimes alleged against Kelly’s name have left jaws dropped. Since the news broke, one of the women has come forth to share her side of the story, claiming that it’s her family and the media who are the ones blowing Kelly’s offstage hobbies out of proportion.  

And even though the "Trapped in the Closet" crooner has also knocked down the accusations, we can’t help but to bring into question other eyebrow-raising moments the self-proclaimed “Pied Piper” has had throughout his storied career.

  1. That "rumored fling" with a then-15-year-old, "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number"-singing Aaliyah...

    R. Kelly executive producing Aaliyah’s debut studio album, not to mention being featured lurking in the cut of the album’s cover, should have been a red flag. But it wasn’t until the then-28-year-old married the 15-year-old that people started to question Kelly’s unusual romantic preferences. It’s now clear as day that the album’s title track, which was written by Kelly, was an ode to his love for underage women. To set the record straight, age is, in fact, more than a number. If you need more context clues than that, 15-year-olds today weren’t even born when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened; they didn’t contribute to the record 1.1 million album sales for Lil Bow Wow’s second studio album, Doggy Bag; and they had to catch reruns of The Kenan and Kel Show.

     

     

  2. Those 33 times he was 'Trapped in the Closet'...

  3. The fact that his nickname is the 'Pied Piper' of R&B...

     

    While R. Kelly has come to be known as the “Pied Piper of R&B,” the true origin of the moniker is quite disturbing. For those unfamiliar with the tale, legend has it that the town of Hamelin, Germany, sought the pied piper’s help during a rat infestation in 1284.

    However, after the town reneged on their promise to pay the pied piper for his services, he led all the children away with his music, never to be seen again, just as he did the rats. The term pied piper is also defined as someone who induces others to follow or imitate him by means of false or extravagant promises.

     

  4. Those 'sultry' lyrics we never quite realized were a little suspect...

    (Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

    Paul Natkin/Getty Images

    (Photo: Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
  5. That time an Epic Records intern sued him for allegedly forcing her into sex...when she was 17 years old

    (Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage)

    Theo Wargo/WireImage

    (Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage)

    During her time as an intern at Epic Records, Tracy Sampson alleged that Kelly forced her into a sexual relationship when she was 17 years old. Her official lawsuit, filed in 2000, added other unnamed women to the allegations as well. “I was coerced into receiving oral sex from a girl I did not want to have sex with,” she alleged in the suit. “I was often treated as his personal sex object and cast aside.” Sampson detailed specific incidents as well, stating that their rendezvous took place at his studio sometimes, which he’d kick her out of straight after.

    According to the New York Post, the legal matters never went through to trial and were settled out of court instead.

  6. That time he was damn near raped on stage...

    We know R. Kelly fans are extra, but this is next level. A video quickly circulated online showing a woman aggressively stroking the singer’s manhood during a concert — and it doesn’t look like he minded one bit. OK, it’s not unusual for R&B artists to enjoy a lap dance or freaky moment between them and a fan, but even Trey Songz damn near having sex with one of his female fans can’t touch what happened here. And it doesn’t help any that this was after the singer was accused of having sex with underage women. Can someone please check this woman’s ID?

  7. That time he did an eyebrow-raising interview with Touré about teenagers...

     

    “When you say teenage, how old are we talking?” There are many different ways to respond when asked if you are a pedophile and a simple no would probably suffice. But, in the case of R. Kelly, that clearly wasn’t the case.

    In 2008, the R&B crooner was interviewed by journalist Toure regarding his alleged taste for young girls and, of course, R. Kelly retreated into paranoid claims that his accusers had vendettas against him. His need for a definition of “teenage girls,” however, remains the most hair-raising detail of the interview.

     

     

  8. That time he got oddly irate about previous sexual abuse allegations...

    R. Kelly’s PR team needs to be fired or just have a quick lesson on how to speak to press, because something isn’t clicking. During a video interview with HuffPost in December 2015, the Pied Piper stumbled through a journalist’s questioning, and "awkward" is an understatement. When questioned whether his previous sexual abuse allegations had negatively impacted his album sales, the singer-songwriter grew angry and, instead of simply saying, "no, next question," he began berating the reporter on her intelligence. Things continued to go downhill from there as the “Ignition” artist disregarded nearly every one of the following interview questions. Instead, he went off-script, educating the public on his sold-out concerts and loyal fans. “I will continue to do my job until I get fired, and the only people who can fire me are my fans,” he said. OK, Mr. Kelly.

  9. One word: tape. Yes, that tape.

    As if 21 counts of child pornography and two sexual indecency lawsuits dangling over Kelly’s head wasn’t bad enough, a reported video tape of the singer disgustingly left nothing to the imagination. According to the Sun-Times, the publication the tape was reportedly sent to, Kelly had reportedly urinated on a 14-year-old minor, along with other unmentionable sexual deviancies. And make no mistake about it: not only was he fully aware of the camera, as the Sun-Times reported, he even fixed the camera for that perfect angle a few times throughout the video.

  10. That other time he was sued for sexual indecency...this time on 21 counts of child pornography

    (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

     

    Right under O.J. Simpson in the history book of “How Sway?" moments, Kelly managed to escape a guilty conviction after being acquitted of 21 counts of child pornography. What's more disturbing is that there was video evidence – yes, evidence – of Kelly allegedly having sex and peeing on underage girls. Unfortunately, we live in a world where a jury that just so happened to attend an R. Kelly concert once in their lifetime couldn’t separate their fandom from the physical documents presented to them in court. Kelly’s legal team tried to pull the Shaggy's good ol' “It Wasn’t Me” line, but don’t be fooled. We saw those cornrows.

     

     

  11. That 18 and over bulls**t...

    Receipts never lie and this archive footage of R. Kelly during one of his many concerts is evidence of his suspect behavior. In the clip, the R&B crooner sings to a crowd of screaming fans, offering to “take home” one of the ladies in the audience. But only under one condition ― you must be “18 and over.”

    The cringe-worthy moment is even more disturbing once you realize how much it excites the crowd.

     

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