(Picture: Prince Williams/WireImage)

A new documentary on BBC3 – entitled R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes – explores a much darker side to the Ignition singer than many people had realised existed.

He’s been out of the mainstream musically for a few years now, but allegations against the R&B star have been coming in thick and fast, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

What’s R Kelly’s history, and what is the current situation prompting this fresh wave of criticism?

(Picture: Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage,)

Robert Sylvester Kelly was born January 8, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois.


He was raised by his mother, Joanne, and debuted as part of a group called Public Announcement in the early 90s.



Kelly has since released 11 solo albums, and sold over 100 million records worldwide.

The Bump N’ Grind hitmaker is estimated to be worth £114 million, which is partly due to his own music, and partly from his record label Rockland Records, started in 1998.

Aside from his musical accomplishments, R Kelly has been dogged with controversy, initially due to his relationship with the late Aaliyah.

(Picture: Prince Williams/WireImage)

According to some outlets, R. Kelly married a then-15-year-old Aaliyah on August 31, 1994, when Kelly was 27.

These reports stated that Kelly had been introduced to R&B singer Aaliyah when she was twelve, three years prior. She became his protegee and the pair struck up a relationship.

Although both denied all of these allegations, the marriage was reportedly annulled in 1995 at the request of her parents, and in May 1997 Aaliyah filed a lawsuit in Cook County to have the marriage records expunged.

Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in 2001 and R. Kelly was married to Andrea Kelly between 1996 and 2009, with the pair having three children from the marriage.

R Kelly and Aaliyah feature (Picture: Youtube)

However, this isn’t where the allegations stop. In 1996 Tiffany Hawkins sued the 51-year-old for ‘personal injuries and emotional distress’ and stated they began their sexual relationship when he was 24 and she was 15. The case was settled out of court.

There were three more cases regarding sexual misconduct involving Kelly between 2001 and 2002 (which all settled out of court), and he was charged with 21 counts of making child pornography, involving intercourse, oral sex, urination, and other sexual acts.

The jury, however, found that it was difficult to prove the girl was underage in the video, and Kelly was found not guilty.

The allegations featured in the documentary include those lingering in his past, as well as those made more recently.

In 2017, an article by Buzzfeed was released entitled ‘R. Kelly Is Holding Women Against Their Will In A “Cult,” Parents Told Police’.

A man called Timothy Savage held numerous press conference stating that Kelly had his daughter Jocelyn in this ‘cult’

This will be the focus of the documentary presented by Ben Zand. Interviews with various involved parties are included, although as yet there’s been no comment from the man himself.



R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes is available now on BBC Three iPlayer. It will be shown on BBC One next Tuesday at 11.15pm.

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