Back in 2008 R&B singer R. Kelly was found not guilty of child pornography charges after a homemade video leaked that appeared to show him engaged in a sex act with a minor [click here if you missed that].
In a new interview R. Kelly addresses the longstanding rumors that he is attracted to underage girls…
An excerpt from R. Kelly's interview with Vulture
The next time I speak to R. Kelly is a week or so after the Buffet listening session. I call a recording studio in California at seven in the morning West Coast time. A publicist puts him on the phone.
Do you have a sexual attraction to underage girls? I ask.
“That’s a rumor that comes from the Earth, like all rumors,” he says, sounding almost bored.
So it’s not true?
“No. It’s not true. I love women, period. If I wasn’t a celebrity, people wouldn’t be saying these things about me.”
How do you explain people close to you saying that you have a problem?
“I don’t know those people you’re talking about.”
I clarify: his brother, his ex-publicist, his former friend and longtime personal assistant.
“All those people have been fired by me. If you’re going to ask me these questions, you have to make sense out of it. It wasn’t until after they got fired that they said these things. Go figure. I got one life, and I don’t want to spend it talking about negativity. I’ve moved on. Maybe you haven’t.”
It’s not crazy to think that where there’s smoke there’s fire.
“Let’s correct that,” he says. “Smoke can be anything. I’ve seen smoke and then I looked and there was no fire.”
And what about all the settlements? All the rumors?
“I understand the game,” Kelly says. “Get as much dirt as you can on somebody, get it all together, and make it real juicy so we can sell some papers. I understand the job you guys have to do.”
