“Everybody has a closet,” said R. Kelly, who recently unearthed a series of disturbing skeletons during an intimate interview with GQ magazine. In the popular men’s fashion and lifestyle publication, the recording artist detailed being sexually abused as a child. “As far as I can remember, about [age] 7 or 8 to maybe 14, 15. Something like that,” he recounted about when the abuse began at the hands of a relative.
“Back then, too young to judge. As I’m older, I’ve only learned to forgive it. Was it wrong? Absolutely. But it’s a family member that I love so I would definitely say no to that one. To be honest, even if my mom, I saw her kill somebody, I’m not gonna say, ‘Well, yeah, she definitely should go to jail.’ It’s just something I wouldn’t do,” he said.
Kells, who grew up watching “The Cosby Show,” even had a few words to say about the sexual assault accusations that have been lodged against legendary comedian and actor Bill Cosby. “Well, my opinion on that is, I don’t know what happened. I’m a fan of Bill Cosby’s from the ‘Bill Cosby Show,’ of course — who’s not? — and for me to give my opinion on something that I have no idea if it’s true or not, all I can say is that it was a long time ago. And when I look on TV and I see the 70-, 80-, 90-year-old ladies talking about what happened when they were 17, 18, 19, there’s something strange about it. … If God showed me that they were telling the truth, I would say that’s wrong. I don’t care if it was a zillion years ago. But God would have to do that, because God is the only one can show me that. No man can tell me that. No woman can tell me that. And when you wait 70 years, 50 years, 40 years, to say something that simple, it’s strange. You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn’t true.”
If you ask us, the incident hit too close to home for the 49-year-old, who was indicted on charges of child pornography in 2002 after a video surfaced featuring the “Down Low” crooner having sex with a minor. In 2003, he was arrested on those charges but was found not guilty in 2008.
“When a person is found not guilty, they’re found not guilty. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a murder case, it doesn’t matter what case it is, when they’re found not guilty, they’re not guilty,” he continued. “And I think that a lot of haters out there wanted to see me go down.”
Numerous sexual abuse allegations with other minors have dogged Kelly over the years.
What are your thoughts regarding the Chicago native’s troubling childhood and his sympathy for Cosby? Sound off in the comment section below.
