In a new set of allegations, a Lawyer, Michael Avenatti released a video tape which allegedly shows rapper R Kelly sexually assaulting a minor girl.
Avenatti on Thursday, 14 February, took to Twitter and claimed that he has handed over the video to the police, in which the "Ignition" hitmaker is seen having sex with the 14-year-old girl, IANS, quoting CNN, reported.
"My client knows the identity of the girl and R Kelly. He identified the two of them on the videotape. He worked for and has known R Kelly for decades, and he met the girl on a number of occasions," said Avenatti, who is reportedly representing an individual, who the attorney describes as a whistleblower, against Kelly.
Following the new allegations, Kelly's lawyer Steve Greenberg said: "We are unaware of any new information involving Mr Kelly. We have not been contacted by anyone. We have not been informed about any new information by anyone and we have not been contacted by law enforcement."
Greenberg had earlier, on Friday, 11 January, claimed that the R&B star had denied all allegations of sexual misconduct involving women and underage girls, including those made in a recent documentary, although he said that neither he nor Kelly has watched the entire movie, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Greenberg’s comments had followed those made by a prosecutor in Chicago, who in January, had urged potential victims to come forward after Lifetime aired the documentary ‘Surviving R Kelly’, which revisited old allegations and brought new ones into the light.
The scrutiny also extended to Georgia, where an Atlanta-area couple said Georgia prosecutors had reached out to them after they repeatedly said that Kelly brainwashed their daughter and kept her from contacting them.
In an interview with AP, Greenberg portrayed Kelly, one of the top-selling recording artists of all time, as a victim of a television hit piece.
“The allegations aren’t true because he never knowingly had sex with an underage woman, he never forced anyone to do anything, he never held anyone captive, he never abused anyone.”Attorney Steve Greenberg, AP reported
‘Surviving R Kelly’ follows the BBC's ‘R Kelly: Sex, Girls & Videotapes’, which was released last year. It alleged that the singer was holding women against their will and running a "sex cult."
Activists from the #MeToo and #MuteRKelly social media movements have seized on the renewed attention to call for streaming services to drop Kelly's music and promoters not to book any more concerts.
Kelly’s estranged daughter, Joann Kelly, whose stage name is Buku Abi, called him a “monster” in a post on Instagram on Thursday, 10 January, though she did not make any allegations, AP reported.
Greenberg harshly criticised Lifetime, accusing those who made ‘Surviving R Kelly’ of telling women what to say on camera, and ripped Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for asking potential victims to come forward, saying that "invites wrongful accusations”, AP reported.
Foxx’s office said in a brief statement on Friday that people had contacted prosecutors and that authorities were “following up on these calls.”
Lifetime and documentary producer dream hampton said in a statement: "The women's stories speak for themselves."
Even as he denied the allegations, Greenberg said he didn't know details about them, AP reported.
He asserted that in the past women have “come on to” Kelly in the hopes that he could help them in their own performing careers, then became “disgruntled” when their own careers stalled and issued false allegations.
He could not say whether Kelly, 52, ever met the women interviewed in the Lifetime show, "met them one night when he was drinking and partying" or even whether he might have lived with them. But he said that was not necessary to determine that they lied, noting that none of them ever went to police or presented anyone with evidence of physical abuse.
Greenberg also questioned why some of the women didn't come forward after a 27-minute video surfaced in 2002 that showed a man purported to be Kelly engaged in sex acts involving an underage girl, AP reported.
Greenberg noted the timing of documentary, after sexual misconduct allegations that have derailed the careers of several famous men, AP reported.
"Now, some producer went running around and solicited all these people, did a Jerry Springer-esque show and there is all this uproar," he said. "It's disgusting."
At the same time, Greenberg said he didn't think Kelly's career would be hurt by the allegations. He noted that the number of times Kelly's songs have been streamed online has climbed in recent days.
(With inputs from IANS and The Associated Press)
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