Disgraced Musician Released from Jail for 2nd Time in Weeks
Legendary singer R. Kelly was released from Chicago’s Cook County Jail on Saturday, marking the second time in less than a month he has gone free after being held behind bars.
Already facing 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse that resulted in an arrest late last month, the musician, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, had been jailed Wednesday for not paying $161,000 in child support.
“I promise you, we’re going to straighten all this stuff out, Kelly, 52, told reporters after he left jail, according to CNN. “That’s all I can say right now. I promise you.”
“Anything you would like to say to your fans?” he was asked.
“I love my fans,” Kelly said, CBS News reported.
R. Kelly freed from Cook County Jail after paying more than $160,000 in overdue child support. pic.twitter.com/dHy9J17hJg
— Karen Civil (@KarenCivil) March 9, 2019
R. Kelly just walked out of jail and made a brief statement. Then a woman, presumably a fan, screamed “I love you, please touch my hand!” pic.twitter.com/c18gGTKl3O
— Nader Issa (@NaderDIssa) March 9, 2019
Although Kelly was freed, it was not clear who put down the money for the child support payment.
Cook County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Sophie Ansari told Fox News she did not know who paid the money.
When asked about the payment, Kelly’s attorney, Steve Greenberg, told the media, “That’s for me to know and for no one else.”
“As far as the child support matter, what was posted, the judge has entered a gag order, so we can’t really talk about that,” he said.
Greenberg took a turn at bashing the media, attacking “the pitchfork justice that’s going on around here.”
“It’s open season on R. Kelly,” he said.
Kelly returns to court for the child support case on Wednesday. He also has a March 22 court date in the abuse case.
In the abuse case, Greenberg said prosecutors have not shown him any evidence they have against Kelly. Regarding that case, the singer was released from jail Feb. 25 after posting $100,000 bond.
“We haven’t seen an interview. We haven’t seen a police report. We haven’t seen a videotape,” Greenberg said. “When we get those things, we’re going to fight this case like we fight any other case: in the courtroom, based on the evidence.”
Kelly has denied abusing women or having sex with underage girls.
Last week, he spoke about the allegations against him during an interview with Gayle King of CBS.
“I’m very tired of all of the, um, lies. I’ve been hearing things and seeing things on the blogs, and I’m just tired,” he said.
Kelly said he was bothered by claims regarding “little girls trapped in a basement,” as well as the “helicopters over my house, trying to rescue someone who doesn’t need to be rescued because they’re not in my house.”
Kelly said he did “lots of things wrong when it comes to women, but I apologized in those relationships.”
“Everybody says something bad about me. Nobody said something good. They was describing Lucifer. I’m not Lucifer. I’m a man. I made mistakes, but I’m not a devil,” he said.
In addition to denying that he had sex with minors and accusing his accusers of “absolutely” lying, he said, “I have been assassinated. I have been buried alive from these lies.”
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