I’m not going to pretend to know all of the legal backstory on the current federal charges being brought against R. Kelly. R. Kelly is facing a multitude of charges and investigations in several different jurisdictions, state and federal. So, I’ll just go with what I can understand from this New York Times story – federal prosecutors are charging R. Kelly with bribing a government official in 1994. It’s the story behind the bribery that interests me: R. Kelly apparently bribed a government employee to falsify Aaliyah’s birthday. Aaliyah was just 15 years old at the time and she had been – allegedly – groomed and abused by R. Kelly for about a year at that point, although that’s my version of the timeline. He worked on Aaliyah’s album when she was just 14, and then married her the next year. The marriage was later annulled and she barely spoke a word against him in the aftermath. Aaliyah tragically died in a plane crash in 2001, when she was 22 years old.
A persistent question has dogged R. Kelly’s two-decade music career: How was he able to legally marry the singer Aaliyah in 1994 when she was only 15 years old? On Thursday, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Mr. Kelly of bribing an Illinois government employee on Aug. 30, 1994, in order to obtain a fake ID for Aaliyah, according to the indictment and a person familiar with the matter. The fake ID was to be used to obtain a marriage license that listed her age as 18, the person familiar with the matter said. Their marriage was later annulled.
The new allegation expands on an existing racketeering indictment filed in New York against Mr. Kelly that accuses him of sexually exploiting underage girls and coercing them into illegal sexual activity. This year, Mr. Kelly, 52, has been criminally charged in several jurisdictions on allegations that he sexually abused minors. Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, died in 2001 in a plane crash at age 22. She is identified in the new indictment only as “Jane Doe #1.”
In an interview this year with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Steven Greenberg, Mr. Kelly’s lawyer, said his client had “no idea” Aaliyah was 15 when they married. “My understanding is that she did not claim to be 15, and in order to get married, she had to lie about her age,” Mr. Greenberg said at the time.
More than two decades ago, Vibe magazine reported that an Illinois marriage license for Mr. Kelly and Aaliyah listed her age as 18. Mr. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was 27 at the time. The license was dated Aug. 31, 1994, the day after Mr. Kelly allegedly paid the bribe. In the Brooklyn investigation, prosecutors have obtained marriage and annulment records for Mr. Kelly and Aaliyah, as well as Aaliyah’s birth certificate, according to a court document filed late Thursday.
Criminal activity from 1994 would normally fall outside the statute of limitations, preventing prosecutors from filing charges for the act in 2019. But the broad racketeering charge Mr. Kelly faces in Brooklyn — where he is accused of leading a criminal enterprise that recruited his fans, sometimes underage girls, to have sex with him — allows prosecutors to introduce acts from any time period that were part of the alleged conspiracy. The statute has typically been used to take down mob organizations.
His associates arranged for the travel and lodging of his sexual partners. But once they arrived, prosecutors said, the women had to follow strict rules. They were not allowed to leave their room without Mr. Kelly’s permission and had to call him “daddy.” They were isolated from their friends and families, making them financially dependent on Mr. Kelly, the indictment said.
Yes, R.Kelly’s lawyer is out there, smearing a dead woman. Aaliyah was an angel – everyone loved her and her passing shocked the music industry. Her coerced marriage to R. Kelly was confusing, and from my memory, she always rejected the idea that he abused her. But… I mean, she probably thought she loved him and that he loved her. And yes, of course she wasn’t bribing government officials at the age of 15. R. Kelly was doing that. Also: one of R. Kelly’s rules was that women and girls had to call him daddy? *hork*
Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Avalon Red.
As a 53 year old Black Woman from the South-side of Chicago who has watched and heard about R. Kelly and his putrid crew ruining under aged girls WITH impunity…FOR DECADES….as Teachers/Principals/Managers/Bus Drivers/Club Owners…and everybody else and their Mama watch and NOT say a thing….THIS…makes me happy!
Kelly had been around Aaliyah since she was TWELVE YEARS OLD…and I ALSO think her parents are DISGUSTING TOO…ain’t NO WAY IN THIS WORLD…OR THE NEXT…that anyone who did NOT look at their child as a “check” would let their children be around Robert Kelly…NO WAY…NONE! He is gross now…believe me…HE WAS GROSS THEN…TRUST!
I hope they RICO his disgusting, trifling a– from HERE…to ETERNITY!!!!!!
When the original sex tap came out, I was in college in NY and had a professor from Chicago. He said everyone in Chicago knew R Kelly picked up young girls. He said you could always find his truck right outside one of the local high school and this man is a predator. He said there is no reason for a grown man to want to hang around young girls so bad and that the city failed these young girls who only saw the flash. He said ask anyone from Chicago and they will tell you the same thing. I was shook and could never even listen to his songs again.
I was in high school when he was charged with having child p0rn, and lots of it. About a year later he had an album out that was very popular. I remember seeing him on TRL. I never liked him after that. There were jokes about him peeing on little girls that always disgusted me. It’s not a funny subject. He’s a disgusting depraved monster who should have been locked up 20 years ago. I share your anger that he was not only allowed to do what he did but also enabled and supported by people who could have prevented so much of it from ever happening. I hope he faces justice in prison. He deserves a life of misery and I hope he never knows peace again.
*edit to add cause I’m on my phone and it’s hard following the thread.. I know the jokes weren’t jokes, he actually did that. People making the jokes about it is what disgusted me.
@Ann…
Those jokes about him peeing on little girls….Were NOT jokes…
My G-d………
Yes, he actually did pee on little girls. It wasn’t just a joke.
He literally peed on young girls. It wasnt a joke. It was even on the infamous tape
@Lala, I followed it all from Cali, and the only thing I can think of is that they trusted R Kelly with Aaliyah because her mom’s brother, Barry Hankerson, trusted Robert’s nasty ass. He was gold to the public back then and could do no wrong, but anybody who wasn’t a virgin at the time could tell when she was introduced to the public standing next to him that they were together.
I remember when she first came out and she and Robert were on that BET show that came on after school, lol!!! I was in college. She was saying that he was her “best friend”. Anyone who saw that could tell that they were having sex. She was 15. Did her parents think that Barry was there the whole time? I don’t know. I do know that NO child should ever be alone with ANY ADULT at that age. Period. Not coaches, not teachers, not work environments. No one. But that’s not how the world works. People take risks. That risk got her fame, and they snatched her out before it got even worse, thank goodness.
My kid wanted to be in the music business at that age. I had to tell her about Aaliyah and Demi and Selena and told her I would not send an idiot into that environment. She had to be at least 18.
We used to drive by that diner he used to hang at all the time and everyone in that neighborhood KNEW how he would corral girls in there. I was young at the time (between 11-13) and we NEVER went in that place. Ever.
It’s been speculated RKelly had something to do with overloading the jet Aaliyah was in that went down…and killed her & everybody else on board.
I know it’s a conspiracy theory…but I believe it.
Please don’t believe it. That’s really dumb (not YOU, but the conspiracy). It was about cheap people not wanting to leave their shit and pay for it to go later. They wanted to take all of their equipment with them. Her handlers were cheap and stupid and it got them all killed.
Stories like that keep the blame off of the real stuff that happened to her and to the other girls.
they actually didnt take any equipment with them as Hype later discussed. What happened was that there was a different plane than expected due to them wanting to leave on Saturday instead of sunday Aug 26th (the sunday private plane could hold the whole crew and then some, saturday’s plane could not unfortunately)
Aaliyah and crew had no idea nor was warned about the stand-in plane’s capabilities or lack there of, were not warned of the baggage and weight. and the pilot was high and inebriated —all this proven on a wrongful death suit that Aaliyah’s family won back between 2002-2004
a NYT piece did discuss how a record label/production rep kept calling into customs to try to put pressure on rushing/curtailing the weighing process on flights to Opa-locka (airport)—- weird indeed.
this story about her crew deliberately overloading the plane is hogwash from the Bahamian airport crew and blackhawk airplane reps and a massive cya on the video prod team from virgin records.
I honestly wonder how much her parents ACTUALLY knew. This was pre-internet at everyone’s homes and the cellphones we’re accustomed to now. But didn’t her Uncle Barry’s primarily look out for her? He was her manager and still has her entire works at his disposal (& obviously not releasing to stream). So how much did he truly tell them? Yes she lived with them at points, but she was a kid. At that age, I’d be scared as hell to tell my parents I’m involved with a 26 year old man who’s also producing my first album. I’m sure looking back, they regret alot
Sure, the dude who groomed underage girls to be his sex slaves had NO IDEA how old Aaliyah was and he certainly would have NEVER married her if he knew! Because he would never be with underage girls, right?
Sure, Mr. Lawyer. That makes total sense.
He was a friend of Aaliyah’s family through her uncle, Barry. He was someone who was trusted by the family. As Lala says, everyone in Chicago knew what he was, but I think that Barry Hankerson brought him into their family, and they were blinded by Kelly’s success and Barry’s connections, so they thought she’d be ok. Barry Hankerson is a successful music producer and is Aaliyah’s mom’s brother.
Yeah, didn’t he have some song inspired by his grooming of her about how age was just a number?
He wrote Age Ain’t Noting But a Number for her. It was the name of her debut album.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Aaliyah’s age public knowledge at the time? In my memory we all knew her age when this happened, but I may have filled that in afterward.
they did TV interviews together where they were coy about their relationship and her age was brought up, so his attorney saying he had no idea she was under 18 is some Trump level gaslighting
Ah yes! I just commented above, but that was my memory too. Her age was no secret.
It took way too long to get here and innocent Black girls paid the price for the delay. It’s about damn time.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But…LET’S BE WHOLLY HONEST…Way TOO many grown a– Black folks…do not THINK that “Black Girls” are innocent…PERIOD…that we’re born with a Scarlet “A” burnt on our chest from day one…that’s why Kelly was able to FLOURISH for DECADES
Honestly…I’m SO TIRED OF THAT STANCE….
As a black woman,I am so tired of this! Black girls/women can’t even be protected by the black community. I have seen black women do the most to protect these predators and make excuses . I remember when Chris Brown nearly killed Rihanna all of heard was “she did something to make him mad” WTF??? The message it sends is that it’s better to protect these POS then our own children. If this was a white doing this to black girls there would be outrage in the black community.
Lala and BlueSky, yeah… hearing adults talk about how our girls are “fast” pisses me off. OUR GIRLS AREN’T “fast”. THEY HURT!!!! They try to act grown to survive.
So many Black girls who just didn’t matter to anybody…
@TQB/ Lala11_7/BlueSky I’ve been angry for a long time at the way our own community treats young black girls. As soon as they develop they abandon black girls and see anything that happens to them as fair game. It’s disgusting and while it took way too long, I’m glad something’s being done.
THIS. And please note that he’s not even being charged with rape/assault with the exception of one case. Why? Because there’s a statute of limitations on rape and assault. But NOT bribery. It’s so f-cked up.
I didn’t know this. As a survivor myself, I am shocked and horrified this is how the law works.
My son works in law enforcement in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. He’s been warning all his female family members to stay alert when out and about. Because of its location to major interstates, the DMV area has the highest rate of sex trafficking in the nation. According to my son, the primary targets are black females between the ages of 13-21….because no one cares if a black female goes missing. I cried when he said that.
Holy sh!t.
Women I respect and admire say Kelley was wrong but those girls were gold-digging Lolitas and knew what they were doing. These beautiful, discarded brown girls arrested in flight by a literal monster.
Cry-typing is real. 😞
I was just talking to a (Black, male) friend about the R. Kelly situation and he said, “Oh sure, and his [Kelly’s] massive fame and fortune had nothing to do with” why those girls were with him. I called him out on his victim-blaming as fast as I could speak. Yes those girls wanted to meet R. Kelly b/c they were his fans but that didn’t mean they wanted to be abused and enslaved ffs.
This. I’ve been told by female Kelly defenders that when they were teens they absolutely knew how to act and dress older to get a man’s attention. In order for these women to sympathize with Kelly’s victims they would have to admit they were victimized by older men themselves. Many aren’t ready for that. So they victim blame.
R. Kelley is a child predator and has been for over 25 years now. He’s abused young black girls for way too long now to not be locked away for the rest of his sicko life. Please plenty of people have known of his discusting behavior and actions and just stood bye and did Nothing to help the victims. There’s a special place in hell for this monster!!
Good, R. Kelly deserves life in prison with no possibility of parole. But so does Ghislaine Maxwell AND Prince Andrew. They need to indict this woman and prince Andrew pronto. I’m not making any excuses for R. Kelly, but the indictment and subsequent imprisonment of POC for the exact crimes white folks commit but are left to go free is just starting to bother me. I want R. Kelly to go away for a very long time, his victims deserve that little justice at least. I’m saying little justice because R.Kelly victims were children of color for the most part and I believe that’s why he got away with his crimes for so long because no authorities cared about these kids. But together with R.Kelly, I want to see the white Ghislaine Maxwell AND Prince Andrew both indicted and prosecuted because that’s the least the authorities can do for their victims after cutting Jeffrey Epstein that sweet deal in 2010.
Absolutely, Babs.
There is an excellent book called Souless: The Case against R Kelly that lays out all the evidence against Kelly. It talks about Aaliayh and R Kellys relationship and how her parents and managers basically cut Aaiyah off from Kelly to save her from him and her career. Another disturbing detail is Kelly used to randomly go to his old high school to go to music class despite being in his 30s. The book is an great primer on all the evidence against him and an very damning case against the “Pied Piper”
I know Aaliyah never spoke publicly about her relationship with R Kelly, but I wonder if she ever discussed it with a boyfriend etc? I would be curious to know what her side was, may she now RIP.
She was only 22 when she died. She likely hadn’t come to terms with it yet. A lot of people sexually abused as children/teens don’t come to terms with it until they have children of their own. Others, until they get enough life perspective to really unpack what happened to them. Mid-twenties and older seems to be more common. I was date-raped once at 17 and it took me 6 months to even admit it to myself and maybe 6 years to really deal with it mentally and emotionally. If she was abused around the ages of 12-16 (he was around her from age 12 apparently) she likely buried a lot of that. She was groomed too which makes it even harder to unpack. Look at MJ’s victims – a lot if them defended him wholeheartedly until they had kids of their own and broke down with all the realisations of what had happened to them as children. Grooming is very hard to break. If she had lived, I think it’s very likely that in her 30s she would have come to terms with this and spoken out about it at some point.
Nah I think Aaliyah would have stayed silent. I dont think you can force anyone to discuss about their relationship/or abuse. Im a stan of hers. I think she would remain silent. Aaliyah’s parents put a gag order on the whole ordeal to maintain her privacy.
He should be in prison for many years but shouldn’t the statute of limitations apply to this charge?
It’s part of a broad racketeering conspiracy set of charges, so under those federal statutes the prosecutors have ability to introduce things remote in time as long as they are part of the alleged conspiracy.
The statute of limitations is so weird. It just doesn’t exist in most countries and for good reason. In regards to sexual crimes it completely fails victims because the time it takes to process the trauma and to be able to come forward (and be believed) means that time is often up legally. Abused children especially often don’t come forward until they are adults with children of their own.
It is sad that these charges are related to bribery, and not the crime against a child’s well being. At least he’s getting punished though.
He produced the album that launched her career and he didn’t know how old she was *snort* OK then idiot.
@Andrea Aaliyah spoke to Damon Dash about Kelly. She found it very hard to speak about that part of her life, just saying that he was ‘A bad man’
https://www.thedailybeast.com/aaliyahs-ex-damon-dash-says-she-couldnt-talk-about-r-kelly
One of the men who was interviewed for the Documentary who allegedly was there when the two were married said he always felt terrible for not saying something. Aaliyah looked very scared up to and during the ceremony and he wishes he’d been stronger in his dealings with that situation and others
That’s so sad.
It is rumored that there was a settlement to not pursue charges so this would go away. The parents received the rights to a portion of his catalog at the time. Part of the reason that he has to tour to make money, he doesn’t own his catalog, which still makes a lot of money.
Sad as hell!