Today in horrifying news: the musician R. Kelly is allegedly holding young women against their will, BuzzFeed News reports. The 50-year-old behind hits like "Trapped in he Closet" and "I Believe I Can Fly" has been accused of brainwashing the women into something that sounds a lot like a cult.
The mother of one of the women (who is only identified in the BuzzFeed article as "J.") described the last time she saw her daughter, which was in December 2016:
It was as if she was brainwashed. [She] looked like a prisoner — it was horrible. 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.
But her daughter isn't technically a missing person and because she's no longer a minor, there is not much the police can do about it. What's more is that the young woman allegedly told her mother that she's doing fine, and not being "held against her will" in a "cult."
J. isn't the only mom who claims she's lost her daughter to Kelly's "cult." There are allegedly a group of women living with him this way, according to three former members of what BuzzFeed refers to as "Kelly's inner circle," Cheryl Mack, Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee.
Those women told BuzzFeed that there are currently six women living in properties rented by Kelly in Chicago and the suburbs of Atlanta. Reportedly, Kelly controls every aspect of these women's lives, including what they eat and where, and when they bathe and sleep. But the worst part is that he also forces the women to participate in sexual encounters, which he records. Dear God.
According to the former members, Kelly calls the ladies his "babies," and they, in turn, must call him "Daddy." They are required to get his permission to leave their rooms in the "guest house" Kelly rents near his own mansion, which he also rents, in the suburbs of Atlanta. Kelly took the women's cell phone, they claimed, and instead gave them new phones they can only use to contact him.
Mack, who was formerly Kelly's personal assistant, says Kelly demands that the women to dress in jogging suits to conceal their figures. She added that when other men are in the same room as one of his "babies," Kelly "would make the girls turn around and face the wall in their jogging suits because he doesn’t want them to be looked at by anyone else.”
Kelly apparently recruits women under the premise of helping them advance their music careers. A parent of one of the women told BuzzFeed:
In the back of our minds, we were thinking [my daughter] could be around him if I was with her. It didn’t really hit home. Even with the Aaliyah situation, now that I think about it, "Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number" ... but you don’t think about that. You grew up with the song, and you like the song.
These allegations of R. Kelly's misdeeds are not surprising: He has been involved in countless sex scandals, and has been accused of rape several times. Last year, The Daily Beast reported that Kelly was dating a teenager.
Kelly has always proclaimed innocence to allegations of underage sex. In interviews, he dodges questions about his past behavior, or just ended the interview.BuzzFeed has tried to reach Kelly but couldn't. His publicist has also ignored requests for comment. You can read their whole report here.
