This Is Only the Beginning of R. Kelly's End

By Michael Arceneaux


Immediately after reportedly initially struggling to pay the $100,000 bail needed to free himself as he awaits trial on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, R. Kelly was eventually released from Cook County jail last Monday evening (February 25).


Among those who waited outdoor the jailhouse for Kelly was a 25-year-old man named Omar Bey, a “lifelong fan” of the singer, per Chicago Tribune reporters Megan Crepeau and Jason Meisner, who admittedly stood there for a dubious cause. “I’m just attempting to get some footage for my Snapchat,” Bey revealed. His motive notwithstanding, Bey sounded like a devoted R. Kelly fan if he added, “I’m not also sure if he did it or not, nevertheless I know he’ll beat the case.”


Kelly's supposed invulnerability is a popular sentiment contained not only by Bey, however also those currently posting in the unfortunate Facebook categorize “R. KELLY’S SINGLE LADIES” and others — fans and skeptics alike — who have echoed it across Twitter in recent days. I’ve also had the displeasure of hearing this viewpoint expressed at the barbershop, a place I go to for fades to boost my mood however often leave frustrated, stirred by asinine musings like “R. Kelly finna get off again, boy.”


Following Kelly’s CBS This Morning interview with Gayle King yesterday (March 6), this chorus remained strong. Despite Kelly’s on-camera outburst, and the desperate assertions he made in his own defense, his fans are still out here proclaiming “innocent up until proven guilty” and painting his accusers as liars and fame-seekers.


The notion that R. Kelly will skirt these expenditures the way he did previous ones — most notably in 2008 immediately after his six-year trial centered on child pornography — is also a stance seemingly contained by Valencia Love, who ultimately posted the $100,000 to secure Kelly’s release on February 25.


Love, who owns a Chicago childcare facility, the Lord and Child Christian Day Care, reportedly befriended Kelly on a cruise five months back. Don Russell, a friend and adviser to Kelly, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Love determined to pay the sum because “she wanted Rob to have a chance at justice, and she thought he’d have a higher end chance outdoors of jail than inside.”


“He notified me he was innocent,” Love mentioned to Fox 32 News anchor Tia Ewing during a phone interview. “If he did it, he is wrong. I wasn’t there, you wasn’t there, give him the chance and let him to prove his innocence. He’s not a monster."


The people who still pledge allegiance to R. Kelly soon after long-standing allegations of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and pedophilia bewilder me. Immediately after a certain point, one would hope that a discography cannot overshadow the abusive behavior so several young females and females have accused Kelly of subjecting them to.


As infuriating as it’s been to be able to see Kelly continue to adore success in spite of decades-long accusations that he's a predator who targets underage females, it should be undeniable that times have changed.


With the rise of the #MeToo movement, founded by Tarana Burke, the #MuteRKelly campaign, launched by Oronike Odeleye and Kenyette Barnes, and the wide viewership of the Lifetime docu-series Surviving R. Kelly, helmed by dream hampton, there really is greater attention to Kelly’s alleged misconduct than ever before. Through his successful music career, R. Kelly was able to amass the fame and fortune that allowed him to prepare an ecosystem to commit his accused crimes without consequence. Thanks to the efforts of those whistleblowers, that ecosystem crumbling and there really is a greater urgency in seeking justice for his accusers.


plus it looks as though it’s only the beginning.


Jim DeRogatis, who first announced on allegations against Kelly in December 2000 and more recently published a story on his accused “sex cult” for Buzzfeed in 2017, made the legal peril facing R. Kelly abundantly clear in a recent piece for the New Yorker. In it, DeRogatis notes that furthermore to the state of Illinois targeting Kelly, the Department of Homeland Security, which investigates sex trafficking, has “formed a squad with roughly two dozen members, which is committed to compiling evidence about a wide span of alleged crimes by Kelly.” That squad is specifically looking at “charges that Kelly transported ladies across state lines ‘for immoral purposes,’ in violation of the White-Slave Traffic Act, from 1910, which is more commonly referred to because the Mann Act.”


In addition, a “second grand jury has been convened in the Southern District of New York, based on investigations by the F.B.I. And the I.R.S.” Not to be outdone, officials in Fulton County, Georgia have reactivated what was previously believed a stalled investigation spurred by the parents of females who are allegedly being contained against their will by Kelly. Then there really is Michael Avenatti, who, might not directly be everyone’s preference esquire, yet for all intents and purposes, has already been efficient in helping bring R. Kelly to heel as he claims to have offered law enforcement with evidence of Kelly engaging in sexual acts with a minor. Avenatti says he is now representing seven clientele — three alleged victims, two parents and two “whistleblowers.”


I am not a betting man — I have also much student cash advance debt to play like that — nevertheless in case you asked me if R. Kelly can beat Cook County, Illinois, Fulton County, Georgia, the Southern District of New York, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and an eager celebrity lawyer actively seeking Kelly and his handlers’ imprisonment, I would go with no.


Not with his current attorney, Steven Greenberg, who appears quite unfit for the legal battle ahead. Not with public suggestion continuing to rise against him. Not with the current climate in which people aspire to be able to see predators brought to justice — particularly those of us who have wanted him put away for ages. Not soon after his immediately infamous sit-down with King. And not with his crumbling finances — which landed him back in jail last night (March 6) right after he failed to pay $161,000 in child support, reportedly leaving his fans scrambling to collect more bail money.


it can have taken far also long for R. Kelly’s reckoning to come, nevertheless the moment appears to have ultimately arrived. His fans might not directly have the ability to accept that, although thankfully, his supporters can’t save him anymore.