There’s a reason the Time’s Up initiative is coming for R. Kelly!
As you surely know, the hitmaker has been hit with several accusations of sexual misconduct, as he’s said to run a sex cult out of his homes in Chicago and Atlanta. Although the Ignition singer has denied the troubling allegations brought against him, two more women have spoken out about the 51-year-old’s predatory ways.
Related: Russell Simmons Isn’t “Too Angry” About The Rape Allegations
While the women had different experiences with Kelly, they’re each claiming they’ve witnessed first hand the abuse he’s inflicted on others. The first claim comes from Lizzette Martinez, a woman who claims R. Kelly took her virginity at 17. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Martinez says her relationship with Kelly started in the winter of 1995, after first meeting the chart topper at a Miami mall.
Per Lizzette, the then 28-year-old celebrity knew she was underage at the time of their meeting. Their relationship lasted until early 1999, but it wasn’t a pleasant romance. Reportedly, R. Kelly hit the young woman on five occasions and pressured her to engage in sexual acts against her will.
On her first encounter with Kelly, Martinez recalled:
“I was at the mall with my girlfriend, and I was an aspiring singer in an R&B group, so I knew of him. I followed music, and I saw him with a really tall guy, maybe 7 feet tall, and I said to my friend, ├óΓé¼╦£Oh, that’s R. Kelly.’ I guess he overheard me, and he came over and gave me a hug, and I was kind of stunned. Then he walked away, and his bodyguard came and gave me his phone number.”
Lizzette later had a sit down with Kelly at an Outback Steakhouse. The meeting was attended by the artist’s bodyguard and then manager Barry Hankerson. In case you were unaware, Hankerson was Aaliyah‘s uncle — yes, the very same Aaliyah that Kelly illegally wed in 1994.
Apparently, Martinez asked about the Aaliyah scandal, to which Kelly replied:
“You can’t believe everything you read.”
Dodging responsibility since the ’90s. Smh.
At first, Lizzette and Kelly’s connection seemed to be a professional one. Their second meeting took place a music studio, where Lizzette displayed her musical abilities. Still, within the first month, things became sexual between Kelly and the aspiring singer:
“The first time I had sex with him there was a party going. Some of his crew gave me alcohol and I was drunk basically when we had sex…
It’s really difficult for me├óΓé¼┬ª I had stars in my eyes. I came from a home where ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ it was a broken home, I didn’t have a lot of support from my family, and for me, I wanted to make it, you know? I mean, 17 ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ I have a daughter now that’s 18. You know, she’s a kid. I was, like, really naive, really innocent.”
Poor thing. To make matters worse, per Lizzette, her life with Kelly was “very controlled.” In addition to telling her how to dress and who she could hang out with, Martinez says she was pressured to engage in sexual activity that made her uncomfortable:
“I did these things, and I felt like it was always ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ he was directing stuff. You know, it felt really weird. He was really overbearing├óΓé¼┬ª I’m like, ├óΓé¼╦£I don’t want to do that.’ But he has a way with people, with women. He’s just so controlling, so abusive.”
That seems to be the reoccurring theme in all of these allegations. Lizzette says she was trapped in “a typical domestic abusive relationship,” but struggled to see it as it was the “first relationship in [her] life.” Things took a turn for the worse when Martinez became pregnant with Kelly’s baby. The extremely Catholic Lizzette was distraught when Kelly requested she have an abortion.
Ultimately, the woman miscarried, something she believes is “for the best.” Lizzette was later hospitalized after Kelly gave her mononucleosis. In response to the health scare, Kelly wrote Lizzette’s mother a $1,000 check. Martinez left Kelly not long after she recovered:
“I was really hurt. I was damaged. I didn’t want to do music anymore. I kind of gave up on my dreams. I wanted to live a normal life. I was too young to go through those things.”
Oof. We can’t even begin to imagine the toll this had on her psyche.
On what she’s thinks of Kelly now, Lizzette expressed:
“I see Robert as a child still. He’s a grown man, obviously. He’s 51. But I don’t think he ever grew up. I don’t know if that makes sense to you. I see him as childlike, but he’s a predator.”
Related: 27 More Women Accuse Charlie Rose Of Sexual Misconduct
The second claim comes from a mother, named Michelle, who says her daughter (referred to only as N.) is a current victim of Kelly’s sex cult. According to Michelle, the A-lister began a relationship with N. when she was 17:
“Being silent is not the answer, so I said, ├óΓé¼╦£It’s time.’ I want my child home.”
It’s said that the Chicago-based mother of three has been in contact with other outraged parents, whose children have also been allegedly victimized by the industry powerhouse. Michelle is convinced that her daughter is “brainwashed,” as she hasn’t spoken to N. in three months and believes her flesh-and-blood is in trouble:
“I don’t know what hold he has on her, but her last words to me was, ├óΓé¼╦£Don’t ever give up on me.'”
Currently, despite the many complaints made by supposed victims’ loved ones, no action has been taken by local law enforcers in Illinois or Georgia. As for the FBI, they will not confirm nor deny that there’s investigation against the music icon.
Michelle’s concern is certainly valid, as back in 2017, Jerhonda Pace broke her NDA with the singer as she was concerned about N.’s safety. As Pace has detailed it, she and N. were R. Kelly “super fans” and were lured into an abusive life under Kelly’s care. At first, N. lied about the sexual relationship she and Jerhonda had with Kelly.
Michelle relayed:
“She was working at McDonald’s like any teenage girl would. I remember coming home from work one day, and this random girl was there at my house. I’m like, ├óΓé¼╦£Who is this?’ And she said, ├óΓé¼╦£Oh, this is Jerhonda. I know her from school.’ So they had their little lie planned out.”
Eventually, Michelle was informed about the relationship, as another one of N.’s friends told her about the situation. N.’s mother did call the police on Kelly, but according to Pace, the singer ordered them to hide and did not let the authorities into his home. Former police chief Jeff Chudwin previously stated that “no crime” was apparent and so he chose to close the matter.
N. tried to squash her mother’s concerns by telling her that Kelly had offered her a job as a personal assistant. By mid-2014, N. announced that she was moving to Atlanta with Kelly. This didn’t illicit any concern in Michelle, as N. always came home for the holidays and (prior to the move) could always get her daughter on the phone.
Sadly, things changed after N. moved. Not only did Kelly give N. a phone where Michelle couldn’t reach her, but N.’s visit became more infrequent:
“The last time I saw her was the summer of 2016├óΓé¼┬ª I didn’t know she was in town, and one day she had an earache or something, and she called me and told me to meet her at Northwestern Hospital. That was actually the last time I seen her ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ I want to say, like, Aug. 13, 2016. …
I don’t have no number for her. Anytime I need to talk to her, I have to go through [Kelly], and then he’ll say, ├óΓé¼╦£Oh, she’s at the mall. She’s busy.’ And one time I asked him ├óΓé¼ΓÇ¥ he FaceTimed me, and I said, ├óΓé¼╦£Why you ain’t letting my daughter come home?’ And he was like, ├óΓé¼╦£She don’t want to come home.’ Nigger, you’re a liar! Anybody knows me and my daughter, we are best friends, like literally, you know?”
In an attempt to get Kelly’s attention, Michelle says she sent him several of his own songs — including When a Woman’s Fed Up, The Storm Is Over Now, When a Man Lies, Prayer Changes. N. responded to this message by demanding that her mother stop “threatening” Kelly.
Apparently, Michelle spoke to the FBI in September, but has yet to hear anything since. Understandably, Michelle feels that “enough is enough” and has the following message for R. Kelly:
“Ain’t nothing in your life going to go right until you let these girls go home and face your judge, your maker.”
Snap! Snap!
We’re sure this is only the beginning of what’s to be a very big controversy for R. Kelly. Be sure to stay tuned for any and all updates.
[Image via WENN.]
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