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R-Kelly

Women Living With R. Kelly Defend Singer in Gayle King Interview

Source: The Hollywood Reporter:::
March 6, 2019 at 21:46
Lazarus Jean-Baptiste/CBS
Lazarus Jean-Baptiste/CBS

In a CBS interview airing Thursday, Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary support Kelly's claims that their families, who say the women are brainwashed, sought money out of their relationship with the R&B singer.

Two women who say they are in a relationship with R. Kelly and live with him defended the embattled singer in an interview airing Thursday, with one claiming her parents are "out here to get money."

In a clip of an upcoming CBS This Morning interview with Gayle King released Wednesday, Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary claim that their families are voicing concern for their safety under false pretenses. "When I first met Robert, my parents told me to lie about my age," Clary, now 21, says in response to a query from King about why she thought her parents were lying. "So when I met him, he thought I was 18." She adds that her parents lied to the police as well, saying that she was 18 years old. 

"Everything that she's saying is true," Savage, 23, responds. "Both our parents are basically out here trying to get money and scam." As she speaks, Clary verbally assents in the background. "Because they didn't agree on what happened, you know? With music or whatever it could be. And they're just very upset," Savage adds. 

Savage's and Clary's parents have accused Kelly of brainwashing their daughters; Savage's parents have said he kidnapped Joycelyn, though she has maintained she is living with the singer by choice.

In his own interview with King on Wednesday morning, Kelly suggested that Savage's and Clary's parents had been "selling" their daughters to him for money and had approved of the relationship until they "weren't getting no money" from it. "I love them, and it's almost like they're my girlfriends. It's like we have a relationship. It's real," he added.

Just after Kelly's interview with King on Wednesday, the singer returned to police custody for failing to pay $161,000 in child-support payments. During the interview, Kelly was out on bail following his Feb. 22 arrest in Chicago on charges related to the sexual abuse of four people, including three minors. Kelly is awaiting trial on those charges.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Savage's parents railed against Kelly's claims in his King interview, saying they never "sold" their daughter to him nor requested money from him. "The allegations Mr. Kelly has brought against my family is very horrific," Timothy Savage, Joycelyn's father, said. "We are a solid family; we care about our daughter. From day one the only thing we wanted to do was actually to see our daughter, hear from our daughter, and make sure she's fine."

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