Tuesday evening, (March 5) clips and still images of R. Kelly’s forthcoming interview with Gayle King began to populate online. An emotional Kelly seen crying and at one point standing in a dramatic fashion indicated an explosive discussion about the years of sexual assault allegations leveled against him would take place.
“An absolute shame, but guess who’s not surprised?” former Kelly collaborator Sparkle captioned on Instagram Tuesday. “Wondering will the Academy consider the performance airing tomorrow on CBS?”
Wednesday morning (March 6) King sat calm and composed during her one-on-one with the singer-songwriter. The more than hour-long CBS Interview found the Grammy-award winning entertainer unhinged as King questioned him on the many accusations of his sexual relationship with underage girls.
As many listened intently to Kelly point fingers at blogs and the girl’s parents who he believes besmirched his name and legacy, several of his accusers took to social media to react and comment on the man they allege manipulated and often held them against their will.
“Robert cut the b.s.,” Lisa Van Allen captioned on Instagram. “I believe you can lie with those crocodile tears. Name the date let’s do these lie detector tests.”
Allen was one of several alleged victims to speak about her relationship with Kelly during Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, which began when she was a teenager.
Jerhonda Pace, another woman who claims to have been sexually abused by Kelly, took to her Facebook page and dissected Kelly’s ardent reaction and attributed it to his inner circle of enablers.
“Looking at that clip of Robert during his interview for Gayle King I didn’t see R. Kelly, I didn’t see my abuser. I didn’t want to read him with a biased attitude. What I saw was a man that needs help,” Pace posted. “For decades he’s been around enablers who never told him the truth. When you’ve been doing wrong for decades, and the people around you makes you feel that your actions are right, you tend to believe that you’re doing no wrong.”
Pace ended her Facebook by suggesting Kelly undergo a mental health evaluation.
For more than two decades, R. Kelly has been accused of manipulating young black girls and forcing them into sexual relationships, often holding them hostage and cutting off communication with their parents.
During the bombshell interview, Kelly vowed he’d fight for “f***ing life.”