U.S. News

The R. Kelly Scandal:

A Timeline of What Went Wrong

Editor Amber Howle

R&B singer R.Kelly has faced many different allegations over the years from child pornography to sexual misconduct with a minor. The ‘Ignition’ singer has been facing more allegations recently after the documentary, Surviving R.Kelly, came out January 3, 2019 showcasing the previous claims and new information. But what really has been happening behind closed doors and has had a blind eye turned to all these years? Here’s a timeline of the whole R.Kelly Scandal:

1992: R. Kelly, age 25, releases his debut album “Born in the 90’s”, which features single such as “Honey Love” and “She's Got that Vibe”. Fans will later note that one lyric from “She’s Got that Vibe” says “Little cutie Aaliyah’s got it.”

1994: R.kelly, 27, illegally marries 15 year old R&B singer Aaliyah. He was the lead songwriter and producer of Aaliyah’s debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.” Her age was listed as 18 on the marriage certificate. The marriage was annulled a year later after Aaliyah’s family became aware of it.

1996: The same year Kelly marries dancer/choreographer Andrea Lee, Tiffany Hawkins fillies suit against Kelly, his record, publishing, and management companies. Hawkins claims her suit was over “personal injuries and emotional distress” arising from alleged sexual relations with Mr.Kelly which she says began when she was 15 and ended when she was 18. The case is settled outside of court.

Around the same time R.Kelly releases his hit single, “I Believe I Can Fly” that is also featured on “Space Jam.”

2000: The Chicago-Sun Times publishes its first article on R.Kelly outlining the claims that Kelly has relationships with underage girls. Kelly refuses comment.

2001: The Chicago-Sun Times anonymously receives a tape of what appears to be Kelly having sex with a young woman. Out of concern the tape is turned over to police.

Later, an aspiring rapper named Tracy Sampson files a lawsuit against Kelly claiming he initiated a sexual relationship between them when she was 17. The case is settled out of court.

2002: Another sex tape is anonymously to the Chicago-Sun Times. The paper recorded, “ The girl in the video, now 17, was identified by her aunt, who said that her niece would have been 14 at the time the tape was made, based on her appearance. Kelly can also be heard on the tape referring to the girl by her first name.” Kelly denies the allegations.

Bootleg copies of the “R.Kelly Sex Tape” is being sold on the streets, according to multiple news sources.

Later that year, Kelly is sued by Patrice Jones who claims they has a sexual relationship when she was 16. She also alleges that Kelly made her terminate a pregnancy resulting from their encounters. The case is settled outside of court.

Dancer Monita Woods, 33, also files suit against Kelly after she alleges that he taped their sexual encounter and sold the tape. The case is settled outside of court.

In June of 2002, Kelly is indicted on 21 charges related to child pornography resulting from the second tape. Kelly is arrested and released on bail.

2005: Kelly’s wife files for an order of protection, but the dispute was settled outside of court and the order was nullified.

2008: After multiple delays, the jury selection for the Kelly trial begins and the counts are dropped from 21 to 14.

Kelly is found not guilty of all 14 counts after the jury deliberates for a day.

2009: R. Kelly and Andrea Lee finalize their divorce.

2010: Jerhonda Pace’s family files a lawsuit against Kelly for years of improper conduct, which was settled outside of court.

2014: Kelly’s planned performance at Columbus Ohio’s Fashion Meets Music Festival was cancelled due to protests. A representative said, “Columbus feels as though R.Kelly’s reputation does not represent their community.”

2017: An article published by Buzzfeed drops a bombshell about R.Kelly. The article outlines claims that Kelly has a “Sex Cult” where he keeps six women, ages 18 to 31. A group of people are cited including Timothy and Jonjelyn Savage, who claim their daughter, Joycelyn, is apart of this “cult”. They claim that Kelly has made their daughter cut off contact with everyone from the outside world. Joycelyn dismisses her parents claims in a video leaked to TMZ and says for her parents to stop speaking about her relationship with Kelly.

Later, Oronike Odeleye starts a petition to get Kelly’s music banned from the airways of Atlanta. And thus the hashtag #MuteRKelly begins.

Then, Jerhonda Pace breaks her nondisclosure agreement and tells Buzzfeed she was 15 when meeting R. Kelly and met him after his 2008 child pornography trial. She admits to starting a sexual relationship with Kelly at age 16. Kelly denies the claims.

2018: Faith Rodgers, 20, files suit against Kelly and claims he unlawfully gave her alcohol, assaulted her, and gave her a sexually transmitted disease. She claims she was 19 when this happened.

The singer releases a song called “I Admit”, and continues to deny allegations.

The New York screening of the docu-series Surviving R.Kelly is evacuated after a threatening phone call is made about the events location.

2019: The docu-series Surviving R.Kelly aired on Lifetime Network to a large audience and revives calls for Kelly to be investigated. Surviving R.Kelly is a series talking about Kelly’s life, career, and the allegations made against him. The series brings all the women accusing Kelly together, and they all speak of a wide-range of things Kelly has done, said, and threatened to do. The docu-series touches on every single claim against Kelly and gives real and compelling evidence towards the claims. After the series, Kelly’s concerts are cancelled, artists pull tracks with him, Chicago police raid his studio, and prosecutors open an investigation into Kelly.

On February 22nd, Kelly is arrested and charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges. He posts bail at $100,000, after appearing in court to plead not guilty on all charges.

Later, Detroit launches an investigation into claims that Kelly sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. Kelly is arrested over unpaid child support and fails to pay back the $161,000 which is a felony.

In an interview with “CBS This Morning” on March 7th, Kelly became aggravated during the interview and shouted, "I'm fighting for my life.” He got up out of his chair and screamed, “I gave y’all 30 years of my f*cking career!”