In the mind of the artist himself, the R Kelly interview was a masterful and brilliant idea. Here are 3 reasons why that naive belief couldn’t be further from the truth.
Entertainment
By now we’ve all seen the train-wreck known as the R Kelly interview, conducted last week by CBS THIS MORNING co-host Gayle King. According to Kelly, the reason he agreed to the 80-minute sit-down with Oprah’s BFF is because “I wanted to clear my name.” Too bad for him his ill-advised circus stunt not only made nothing better, but actually made matters much, much worse.
Let’s take a look at the 3 most prominent ways the R Kelly interview dug an even deeper hole for the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer-songwriter-producer:
UNCONTROLLABLE EMOTION
If the R Kelly interview was concocted to sway public opinion that Kelly is “not a monster” toward women and does not hold them against their will and/or physically and emotionally abuse them, then the entire hour-and-a-half was a colossal failure.
Perhaps a convincing way to disprove physical abuse toward women is to display impeccable emotional control. Instead, Kelly repeatedly raised his voice during the interview, regularly shouted over Gayle King, and appeared completely and utterly unhinged. However, it was the multiple moments when Kelly jumped out of his chair, punched his fist into his hand, pointed his finger in King’s face, and flailed his arms within inches of her head that was most disturbing.
“I need to state the obvious that this is not normal,” said Patti Wood, a body language expert and the author of Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language & Charisma. “His disregard for her and the fact that he doesn’t see or notice her, as well as his lack of composure is in itself frightening.”
Kelly’s attempt to convince us all that he’s never “out-of-control” with women collapsed the moment he began to deliver a textbook “out-of-control” performance toward a woman on national television. In fact, the alpha-like beating of his chest and other actions were the very antitheses of composure.
DEFLECTIONS, LIES, AND CONTRADICTING TALES
“Stop it. Y’all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f*cking life! Y’all killing me with this sh*t!” Kelly wailed into the camera during his interview. “I just want to have a relationship with my kids!”
His kids??? How did a discussion about sex with underaged girls detour into him somehow being prevented from having a relationship with his kids?? Easy. Those words were the roadmap to the R Kelly strategy. When the questions got too hot, he was ready to deflect blame, or change the subject, or both. All behind a wall of continuous fake tears, of course.
“I just need somebody to HELP me,” the seemingly distraught Kelly uttered. “I just need somebody to help me — help me not have such a big heart,” he added.
“So you’re the victim?” King inquired regarding Kelly’s opinion that this is all happening because of his overly trusting heart.
“All I try to do is HELP people and they TURN on me,” Kelly said as his voice trailed and he buried his face into his palms.
Then, through a series of conflicting stories complete with hard to follow twists and turns, Kelly went on to bemoan that his ex-wife “destroyed my name,” that so many people are out to get money from him, and that various others who he trusted with money management have stolen from him.
In case you missed it, the theme here was a pity party for the allegedly kind-hearted R Kelly.
ADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE
According to various legal experts, the singer’s egotistical bet to speak on camera was, by itself, a horrific mistake. However, that decision paled in comparison to the unbelievably absurd admissions Kelly made during the interview.
When King asked why the parents of his current accusers are adamant that he had sex with their underage daughters, Kelly’s deflection of blame kicked into high gear.
“Those parents handed those girls over to me,” Kelly exclaimed. “It was OK while they were getting money from me,” he added with a smirk as if he had just successfully removed all guilt from himself and placed it solely onto the parents.
Au contraire.
In that moment (and a series of others), what Kelly failed to realize is he just admitted to engaging in sex with underage girls and that he paid some of the parents to allow it.
Too bad for him, those words are admissible in court and will almost certainly be played over and over again by the prosecution in the upcoming trial.
“It’s a rare case when it’s a good idea for the accused to sit for an interview,” said celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, who’s represented the likes of Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, and Winona Ryder. “This was not that rare case.”
“He had the right to remain silent, but not the ability,” attorney Lisa Bloom said.
“I just couldn’t understand what the purpose of it [the R Kelly interview] was,” criminal attorney Harland Braun pondered. “With all these charges against him, who was he trying to reach or convince?”
Entertainment
After needing 3 days to raise the $100,000 bail following his initial arrest, Kelly was re-arrested and returned to jail last week for failing to come up with the more than $160,000 he owes in back child support. While taking a few more days behind bars to raise the new funds, Kelly’s current live-in “girlfriends” — Azriel Clary, 21, and Joycelyn Savage, 23 — conducted their own interview with Gayle King to dismiss any notion that R Kelly is running a “cult.”
Remember Azriel and Joycelyn from the #SurvivingRkelly doccie?? Gayle interviewed them this morning. They say they’re both in love with R Kelly @CBSThisMorning #Rkelly pic.twitter.com/XssucPL8Ar
— Drew Soglo (@DrewSoglo) March 7, 2019
Too bad (for them) their on-camera performance only added more fuel to the fire that Kelly has an addiction for extremely young females and that their admitted 3-way “relationship” is very much a cult.
Did the R Kelly interview as well as the subsequent interview with members of his harem dispel any notion that he has engaged in sexual relations with underaged girls? Or, are you of the belief that R Kelly was right to “fight for his life” on national TV and to expose a plot that dozens of scorned women are lying and simply out to get him?
TAKE OUR POLL:
[socialpoll id=”2541845″]
If the R Kelly interview was concocted to sway public opinion that Kelly is “not a monster” toward women and does not hold them against their will and/or physically and emotionally abuse them, then the entire hour-and-a-half was a colossal failure. […]
Wow! Drop.The.Mic. {standing up applauding DJ’s entire post}
DJ, my man, you really smashed it this time!!!
I can add nothing to what you’ve said except to say that I absolutely AGREE with ALL of it.
Thank you!