R Kelly’s crisis manager admits he would not let his adult daughter be alone with the singer who is on ‘suicide watch in solitary confinement and paying his legal fees with donations from fans’ ahead of his federal sex crimes trial
- Darrell Johnson appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss R Kelly’s arrest and his upcoming trial with Gayle King on Monday
- The crisis manager was straightforward for most of the interview, and did not try to spin the allegations being made against Kelly
- ‘You have a 20-something-year-old daughter. Would you allow her to be alone with R Kelly,’ asked King at point
- ‘Absolutely not,’ said Johnson, explained he would not let his daughter be alone with anyone accused of ‘pedophilia’
- Three tapes show the singer raping a girl, 14, and then subjecting her to ‘sadomasochistic abuse’ prosecutors revealed in court
- The minor who refused to testify against Kelly at his 2008 trial has said under oath that it is her on the singer’s rape tape, and has five corroborating witnesses
R Kelly’s crisis manager Darrell Johnson manager managed to succeed where his client failed on Monday as he sat down for a revealing and no-nonsense interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning.
Johnson, who was hired by the singer’s defense team, did get some pushback from King following a few baseless claims, but largely avoided trying to spin the allegations his client is facing during the sit-down.
At one point, he even admitted he would not leave his own daughter alone with the singer.
‘You have a 20-something-year-old daughter. Would you allow her to be alone with R Kelly,’ asked King.
‘Absolutely not,’ responded Johnson.
‘I would not leave my daughter with anyone who’s accused of pedophilia.’
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Crisis: Darrell Johnson appeared on CBS This Morning (above) to discuss R Kelly’s arrest and his upcoming trial with Gayle King on Monday
https://youtube.com/watch?v=qE8tbn9KyfA%3Ffeature%3Doembed
King then tried to get Johnson to cite Kelly specifically in his response, but the best she got was him stating: ‘I would not leave my daughter with anyone that’s accused of being a pedophile. I would not.’
She moved on to ask Johnson hat his response was to the many accusers who have come forward, most of whom have remarkably similar stories about being forced into sex acts as minors or being held captive by the singer.
‘You have so many women who have come forward and telling the same story for a long period of years. Are all the women not telling the truth?’ asked King.
“I know you and all his team says he’s innocent,” King said. “You have so many women who have come forward and telling the same story for a long period of years. Are all the women not telling the truth?’
Johnson stated he would never call another person a liar, then explained: ‘I came on seven months ago. I walked into a front door, and I seen Mr. Kelly being a normal person.’
He said that Kelly then began recording music, and about 20 minutes after that two women – presumably Azriel Clarey and Jocelyn Savage – entered the apartment.
The two ‘walked in with shopping bags, no security, free [to go], doing what they wanted to do’ said Johnson.
‘I spent a lot of time with Mr. Kelly. And I still say my eye is trained. I haven’t seen anything that would cause me to be suspicious,’ added Johnson.
King then said the scene was just as normal when she went for her interview with Kelly earlier this year.
‘We are not going to see that type of behavior,’ she pointed out.
‘The question is, all of these women through decades now have been telling the same story.’
Johnson later expressed concern for Kelly though, explaining: ‘When you’re in the state of mind Mr. Kelly is in right now, any person, including myself and you, would probably want the authorities be cautious of what has taken place.’
Johnson was then asked if the singer is on suicide watch.
‘I would assume that he is,’ said Johnson.
‘Nobody wants to be locked down 24 hours, no TV. He can’t read and write, so he can’t read a book. It’s almost as if he’s already been, that a jury has convicted him.’
Tony Doukoupil later jumped in to inquire about the singer’s finances, asking: ‘Because he can’t perform, how is he paying for his legal defense? Are other celebrities, other musicians providing him money?’
Johnson responded that his client does have ‘royalties that come in so he’s living off some of his royalties,’ while also noting that ‘fans and friends gave a lot of donations’ early on to Kelly.
Ignited: The crisis manager was straightforward for most of the interview, and did not try to spin the allegations being made against Kelly (above with Gayle King in their March interview)
Trapped in the cell: The minor who refused to testify against Kelly at his 2008 trial has said under oath that it is her on the singer’s rape tape, and has five corroborating witnesses (Kelly in court on July 12)
Federal prosecutors revealed that they are in possession of three tapes which show the singer raping a girl, 14, and then subjecting her to ‘sadomasochistic abuse.’
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull then made a point of stating: ‘There is no question that it is the defendant on these videos.’
Kelly is seen in close-up and two of the tapes were filmed in rooms that are distinctly similar to ones in the singer’s former home.
Prosecutors also said that the victim’s age is said fifteen times on one of the rape tapes.
The singer’s lawyer Steve Greenberg responded by presenting his client as a broke family man with an aversion to flying, and even confirmed that the singer is in fact ‘illiterate’ in his failed bid to convince the court that Kelly was not a flight risk.
‘Unlike his most famous song – I Believe I Can Fly – Mr. Kelly doesn’t like to fly,’ declared Greenberg at one point in the proceedings,
That dated, and arguably false, statement failed to convince Judge Leinenweber however, who denied the singer’s request for bond and then arraigned him on the indictment filed in Illinois last week.
Kelly entered a plea of not guilty. He faces 195 years in prison if convicted on the Illinois charges.
He will be flown to New York next month to be arraigned in Brooklyn federal court on August 4, where he will likely be detained until he flies back to Chicago for a September court hearing.
Things got off to a difficult start for Kelly at his last hearing when prosecutors from the Northern District of Illinois confirmed that the minor female who was believed to be on the rape tape that resulted in Kelly’s 2008 Cook County trial is now cooperating with authorities.
That young woman has now gone on the record prosecutors said on Tuesday, and there are five witnesses to corroborate her story.
She did not testify at that 2008 trial, and the refusal of both her and her family to speak with authorities was viewed as the reason for Kelly’s acquittal on child porn charges.
The tape from that trial is not one of the three that prosecutors have in their possession.
A lawyer for that victim denied that his client did not testify.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Christopher Brown, Esq. of Brown & Rosen LLC., said: ‘Recent public remarks have been made suggesting that the victim and her family did not testify at the 2008 trial because they received in excess of $2,000,000 from R. Kelly for their silence.
‘Such public remarks are false and have no basis in reality. The victim and her family have been contacted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago and are cooperating with the investigation of R. Kelly.’
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