R’n’B singer R Kelly has denied allegations that he’s running an “abusive and controlling cult” of several young women and aspiring singers. His lawyer has said that he is working "diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name.”
The allegations came to light in an investigation by Buzzfeed that accuses the 50-year-old singer of brainwashing women who came to him for help in boosting their careers.
It’s further alleged by parents of some of the girls that they are being held against their will in properties rented by him and that some have been “trained” on how to sexually pleasure Kelly to his specifications.
He’s also accused of confiscating their mobile phones and giving them new ones so that only he can be contacted and that any further contact is through him only.
One of the women said she was "not being brainwashed". Jocelyn Savage told TMZ: “I'm in a happy place in my life. I'm not being brainwashed or anything like that." Kelly denies the accusations.
The report quotes three sets of parents who claim not to have seen or spoken with their daughters for months, and that their routines were controlled by the singer.
Kelly’s lawyer, Linda Mensch, denies the claims.
“Mr Robert Kelly is both alarmed and disturbed at the recent revelations attributed to him,” she said in a statement. “Mr Kelly unequivocally denies such allegations and will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name.”
One set of parents, who has have elected to remain anonymous, claim that their daughter became “brainwashed” after meeting the singer backstage at a concert in California in 2015.
“It was as if she was brainwashed. [She] looked like a prisoner — it was horrible,” one mother of an alleged victim told BuzzFeed News. “I hugged her and hugged her. But she just kept saying she’s in love and [Kelly] is the one who cares for her. I don’t know what to do. I hope that if I get her back, I can get her treatment for victims of cults. They can reprogram her. But I wish I could have stopped it from happening.”
R Kelly was acquitted in 2008 of 14 charges of making child pornography. He is one of the most successful R’n’B singers of all time with worldwide record sales of some 40m. He denies all of the current allegations.
BuzzFeed has said it is standing by its report.
