The two girlfriends of accused sexual abuser R. Kelly defended the R&B singer in an interview with CBS’s Gayle King that aired Thursday, one day after the network released King’s shocking interview with a belligerent Kelly.
Joycelyn Savage, 23, and Azriel Clary, 21, who both live with Kelly, 52, in his Chicago apartment, claimed they were in a “very strong relationship” with him. Clary, who said she met Kelly when she was 17, also denied having underage sex.
“We’re with him, that’s our relationship,” Clary said on “CBS This Morning.”
“Yeah, we’re with him. Yeah, that’s what it is,” Savage said.
Both women’s parents, who were featured in Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary series detailing the years of sexual abuse allegations against the singer, have repeatedly alleged Kelly “brainwashed” their daughters into joining a sex cult.
Clary and Savage claim their parents are trying to blackmail him for financial gain, something both sets of parents have denied.
“When I was 17, my parents were actually making me, trying to get me to take photos with him, take sexual videos with him, all kinds of stuff,” Clary said. “They said, because if they ever have to blackmail him, what they’re trying to do now, they can use it against him, which is exactly what they’re doing.”
Savage agreed. “Both our parents are basically out here trying to get money and scam,” she said.
According to King, Kelly stood off-camera while Savage and Clary did their interview, interjecting with coughs and attempts to cut off the conversation.
Savage’s parents spoke out again Wednesday, calling Kelly’s explosive interview “disturbing.”
Kelly, who has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, was arrested Wednesday for not paying child support to his ex-wife Andrea.
In an additional portion of the interview that aired Thursday, Kelly again lashed out, crying and screaming when King asked about Andrea Kelly’s claims of domestic violence.
Kelly accused his ex-wife of lying and said “so many people” had stolen money from him.
“How can I pay child support? How? If my ex-wife is destroying my name and I can’t work? How can I work? How can I get paid? How can I take care of my kids? How?” he screamed. “Use your common sense!”
King said Wednesday that representatives for Kelly, whose publicist had to physically restrain him during the interview, told her “they were pleased with the interview.”
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.