The claims against R. Kelly just keep coming, this time the allegations are from the singer’s brother, Carey Kelly.
Carey Kelly says his sibling abused their 14-year-old cousin, capping a parade of accusations in recent years that even prompted a social media #MuteRKelly campaign.
“You give people chances to change before you put their business out there, before you actually say ‘enough is enough,’ “ Vibe quotes Carey Kelly as saying. “Things happen in people’s lives to the point where you feel like it’s a wake-up call and now they get a chance to right their wrongs.”
Carey Kelly said that three pivotal incidents affected R. Kelly: the 1993 death of their mother, Joanne Kelly, the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, who R. Kelly married when she was 15, and R. Kelly’s 2008 acquittal in a child pornography case. Carey Kelly told Vibe that after these developments, his brother’s alleged problems “became worse.” Carey Kelly says he approached the singer about claims that he has assaulted underage girls and believes that he was “trying to get some help.”
Carey Kelly believes his brother’s alleged problem is a result of childhood abuse, Vibe reports.
“Robert has a control problem,” Carey Kelly said. “The only reason why he targets little girls –now that I’m older, I understand–he was molested. I was molested (too), but I didn’t turn out that way.”
Read More: Jay-Z, Diddy, Nas, and Kendrick Lamar are hip-hop’s biggest earners according to ‘Forbes’
Read More: Ken Smikle, founder of Target Market News, dies of congestive heart failure
Carey Kelly said he and his brother were molested by the same person, but he has taken his life in a different direction than the one he believes his brother has taken.
“I became a protector of children,” Carey Kelly said. “I didn’t want kids to go through what I went through … especially my daughters.”
Kelly mentored the late Aaliyah and denied rumors that the two were a couple. He married Aaliyah when she was 15, in 1994, although her age was listed as 18 on the marriage certificate. The marriage was annulled a year later.
Carey Kelly said he sensed something inappropriate was taking place between the two before they married.
“I picked it up when he was working on her album and he started producing ‘Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number,’ “ Carey Kelly is quoted as saying in Vibe. “I’m paying closer attention to how they’re vibing. They’d be right next to each other, hugged up and different things of that nature.”
Regarding the cousin, Carey Kelly said other family members noticed R. Kelly spending time alone with the girl.
Kelly has not responded to his brother’s allegations.