As promised, CBS This Morning aired a portion of R. Kelly’s first interview since his February arrest on Wednesday morning (March 6). During his explosive conversation with Gayle King, Kelly denied all sexual abuse allegations and insisted it’s nothing more than a social media smear campaign against him.
The embattled R&B star also said all of the women accusing him of physical and sexual abuse are “lying.”
Although the interview started off relatively benign, Kelly grew consistently more agitated, upset and emotional as the 80-minute interview continued. In fact, at one point King was forced to stop the interview so Kelly could regain his composure.
Unsurprisingly, Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary was a heavy topic of conversation. The six-part series was arguably the catalyst leading to Kelly’s 10-count indictment.
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“Everybody says something bad about me,” Kelly said, referring to the documentary. “Nobody said nothing good. They was describing Lucifer. I’m not Lucifer. I’m a man. I make mistakes, but I’m not a devil. And by no means am I a monster.”
He added, “You can start a rumor on a guy like me or a celebrity just like that. All you have to do is push a button on your phone and say: ‘So and so did this to me. R. Kelly did this to me.’”
Despite his blatant denial, Kelly did offer an apology.
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“[I’ve done] Lots of things wrong when it come to women, that I apologize. But I apologized in those relationships at the time I was in the relationships.”
CBS This Morning will air Part 2 of the Kelly interview on Thursday (March 7).
[This article has been updated. The original version was published on March 5, 2019 and can be found below.]
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CBS This Morning has just announced an in-depth interview with R. Kelly will air on Wednesday (March 6).
In a tweet from CBS Evening News, the news outlet confirmed the disgraced R&B star recently sat down with Gayle King for his first interview since his arrest last month. Unsurprisingly, a tearful Kelly denies all sexual abuse allegations.
“I sit here and say this, I had two cases back then that I said in the beginning of the interview that I will not talk about because of my ongoing case now,” he says in the first clip. “People are going back to my past and trying to add all of this stuff now to that. To make all of this stuff that’s going on now feel real to people.”
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When King suggests his past is relevant, Kelly quickly replies with, “Absolutely no it’s not. For one, I beat my case. It’s not fair to nobody. When you beat your case, you beat your case.”
Throughout the two clips, he continues to deny having sex with underage girls despite his recent 10-count indictment.
“Not true,” he says. “Old rumors, new rumors, future rumors. Not true.”
NEW: R&B singer R. Kelly, charged with aggravated sexual abuse, angrily denied the accusations in a new interview with @GayleKing, insisting the claims are “rumors” & “not true.”
Kelly has pleaded not guilty; see the first clips here & watch @CBSThisMorning Wednesday at 7a ET. pic.twitter.com/5yT1QwPsIq
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 5, 2019
In the second clip, Kelly is noticeably more agitated and emotional.
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“I don’t need to [hold girls against their will],” he says. “Why would I? How stupid would that be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way, way past, to hold somebody … how stupid would I be to do that? That’s stupid guys. That’s stupid. Use your common sense. Forget the blogs. Forgot how you feel about me.
“Hate me if you want to. Love me if you want to. Just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me with my crazy past and what I’ve been though? Oh, right now I just think I need to be a monster and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle. Stop it. Y’all quit playing. I didn’t do this stuff. This is not me. I’m fighting for my fucking life.”
The interview airs on Wednesday morning (March 6) at 7 a.m. ET.
