R. Kelly Double Up

R. Kelly abuse allegations continue in new report from former “girlfriend”

R. Kelly has been the subject of allegations of sexual misconduct for many years, from his marriage to the then-15 year old Aaliyah in 1994 and an infamous “pee tape” in 2002 to his indictment on child pornography charges, also in 2002 (he was later acquitted) and numerous out of court settlements. Kelly’s music career has continued throughout these incidents, but he reentered the spotlight in July of 2017 with a fresh round of accusations that he was holding several women against their will in an “abusive cult.” Now another woman has come forward with more accusations against Kelly. Kitti Jones, formerly a radio DJ for Dallas, TX hip-hop and R&B station 97.9 The Beat, and her experiences with Kelly are the subject of a detailed, disturbing new report from Rolling Stone.

Jones, already a fan of Kelly’s, says she met him for the first time at the radio station-sponsored afterparty of a 2011 Dallas concert. Kelly gave her his phone number, Jones says, and told her right away via text to “always call him ‘daddy’ ­– never call him Rob.” According to Jones, their relationship developed over phone conversations, text messages, and a few in person meetings. As Rolling Stone reports, Jones’ misgivings began during one of those meetings, in September of 2011 in Chicago:

It was in September 2011, during Jones’ first trip to Chicago to visit Kelly at his Trump Tower apartment, that she began noticing odd incidents. After Jones texted Kelly that the driver arrived at the airport on time, Jones alleges Kelly told her not to speak to him and inform the singer if the driver talked to her. It was part of a pattern, Jones later realized, of male figures in Kelly’s orbit avoiding interacting with any woman around the singer. Jones recalls stumbling on a stair that night and watching two male employees nearby not flinch. “They knew not to talk to me or help or anything,” she says.

Jones says she moved into Kelly’s Chicago apartment in November of 2011, and immediately his controlling nature revealed itself. Echoing details from the “cult” allegations, Jones says Kelly controlled what she wore, ate, who she saw, and when she used the bathroom.

Almost instantly upon moving to Chicago, Jones says, Kelly began governing nearly every detail of her life, starting with the requirement that she wear baggy sweatpants whenever she went out and text near-constant updates on her whereabouts. (A source who knew Kelly confirmed the singer’s demands on Jones to Rolling Stone.) Jones says she was forced to text either the singer or one of his employees for even the slightest request. (Sample text message: “Daddy, I need to go to the restroom.”)

Unlike on earlier weekend visits, Jones says she now had to “stand up and greet daddy” every time he walked in the room. Jones could still travel back to Dallas to see her friends, but was tethered to her phone to supply continuous updates to the singer.

According to Jones, Kelly’s treatment of her escalated to physical abuse:

Jones had been living with Kelly for less than a month when she claims the first instance of physical abuse occurred, in November 2011. Jones says that on a return trip to Dallas around Thanksgiving, she saw for the first time the video at the heart of his child-pornography trial and challenged Kelly on the phone about it. “He said, ‘Bitch, don’t you ever fucking accuse me of something like that,'” Jones says. “He never had spoken to me like that before.”

Jones claims Kelly remained enraged when she flew back and met him at the airport. “My heart was just beating through my chest,” she says. “He just turned into a monster. I blamed myself ’cause I was like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t’ve said anything.'” As they drove home, Jones says she repeatedly apologized while Kelly kicked her multiple times and delivered a series of open-handed slaps to her face. “I was putting my hand over my face and telling him I was sorry,” Jones says. “He would start kicking me, telling me I was a stupid bitch [and] don’t ever get in his business.” The next day, Jones says, the couple went shopping and neither spoke about the incident.

In January of 2013, Jones says she was moved from a private apartment into a studio space shared with other women who were involved with Kelly. She describes continued rigidly controlled living conditions, including monitoring by security camera, having to ask for food, being forbidden from sharing basic personal information with the other inhabitants of the space, and forbidden to speak to or even look at other men. Punishment for breaking these rules could include being left without food, she continues.

For the final period of her time with Kelly, Jones describes “six months of hell” where she says was forced into sexual activity with Kelly’s other girlfriends.

Jones says that in March 2013, she was introduced to another one of Kelly’s girlfriends. The singer brought the woman in naked and told her to crawl toward Jones and perform oral sex on her. “He told me, ‘I raised her. I’ve trained this bitch. This is my pet,'” she says.

That night would begin a new, darker chapter of Jones’ relationship with Kelly, one in which she claims he would force her to have sex with other women. Kelly would frequently fly girls in for sex, says Jones, and order her and his other girlfriends to hook up with them. “You can’t say no because you’re going to get punished,” she says. “You just become numb to what’s happening. It’s so traumatic the things that he makes you do to other people and to him.”

In one particularly graphic example, Jones claims she witnessed Kelly urinating on two women while she and the women were in the middle of a sex act with the singer. “It was just a game for him,” she says. “He just went back and forth [on them] when he was peeing and told [another girlfriend] to clean it up afterwards. That was the worst that I’ve ever seen.”

Kelly had responded to the previous “cult” allegations by calling them “a bunch of crap.” He also denied, through a representative, the allegations that Rolling Stone presented him with:

“Mr. Kelly is aware of the repeated and now evolving claims of [Ms. Jones],” Kelly’s representative wrote in a statement. “It is unfortunate that Ms. Jones, after public statements to the contrary, is now attempting to portray a relationship history with Mr. Kelly as anything other than consensual involvement between two adults. As stated previously, Mr. Kelly does not control the decision-making or force the actions of any other human being, including Ms. Jones, by her own admission. Any claim of wrongdoing of any kind or of mistreatment of any woman by him is false, ill-motived and defamatory.”

Since the July 2017 Buzzfeed Report from Jim DeRogatis came out, another woman from the “cult” also spoke out making similar claims. Kelly was also accused of underage sex and abuse by Jerhonda Pace in another report from DeRogatis. A Georgia politician called for a new criminal investigation of Kelly in August, but police denied the existence of new evidence.

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