In his first interview following his arrest last month on sexual abuse charges, an emotional and unyielding R. Kelly denied having sex with underage girls and portrayed himself as a victim of a social media-fueled smear campaign.

Mr. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, screamed, cursed and pleaded to the camera in the sit-down with Gayle King, a host of “CBS This Morning,” parts of which aired on Wednesday.

“Hate me if you want to, love me if you want,” Mr. Kelly said. “But just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me, with my crazy past and what I’ve been through — oh, right now I just think I need to be a monster, hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out!”

He continued, directly into the camera and growing tearful: “I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me!”