Breaking: R. Kelly is still a revolting human being

This article is sensitive, and discusses extreme violence against women. Reader discretion is advised.

R. Kelly is back in the news – as in, he’s being sued for sexual slavery. His conduct is deeply immoral – sick and hideous behavior. And it’s been going on for 20 fucking years.

Those familiar with R. Kelly’s fantastic lack of care for fellow human beings may recall his monstrous treatment of Aaliyah, then a rising teen star. Her debut album, produced by Kelly, was titled Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number. They met when she was 12; her debut album was released at 14; they were illegally married when she was 15. The marriage was in 1994.

Knowledge of this marriage was widespread in the music industry. Kelly’s been quoted – “I can tell you I loved her, I can tell you she loved me, we was very close.” Other than this, neither have spoken about the marriage publicly (besides her court motions).

For the record, the marriage was annulled when Aaliyah’s family found out in 1995. She attempted to have the records expunged in 1997 (these motions being the smoking gun proving the marriage happened). At the time, another woman was suing Kelly for having sex with her when she was 15; he was 24. The case was settled for $250,000. Aaliyah tragically passed in a plane crash in 2001. She was 22.

That’s not all, folks. In 2002, a tape surfaced of R. Kelly having sex with and urinating on yet another teenager. Police seized his camera and found twelve pornographic pictures of underage women. He was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography; the case was dismissed over a technicality relating to the search warrant – “lack of probable cause.” The trial related to the tape was postponed over and over again by R. Kelly’s legal team, citing whatever would push the date over the horizon; eventually, in 2008, a jury cleared R. Kelly, The Human Delay of Trial, of all counts. And now, the new allegations. Three sets of parents have come forward, alleging that R. Kelly is holding women, their childre, in a “sex cult”. One has come forward accusing him of purposefully infecting her with an incurable sexually-transmitted disease and refers to her case as “sexual enslavement.”

Horrid? Yes. Shocking? No. The man’s 51 – this is a well-established pattern of behavior, whispered in the media, and legible on his fucking Wikipedia page. These are Weinstein-esque patterns of turning a blind eye to the kinds of toxic behavior that keep capable women out of music. Thank Christ for #MeToo – it’s only too easy to imagine this behavior continuing into perpetuity. Hopefully the winds of change will blow R Kelley right into prison – or wherever else his miserable ass will get some comeuppance.

From the Felix Music staff, from deep within all our hearts – R. Kelly: fuck you!