Infamous R&B star R Kelly has left the Chicago jail where he was being held after posting his $100,000 bail, according to a Cook County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
The singer has been plagued by allegations of sexual assault, rape, child abuse, child pornography and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for decades.
Yesterday, the 52-year-old pleaded not guilty to 10 charges against four women, three of whom were minors at the time of alleged assault. He did not speak to media as he was escorted from jail by his lawyer.
The Ignition singer turned himself in to police on Friday and spent the weekend in a jail cell after denying all allegations against him over the last 30 years.
He has faced claims of sexual abuse for a long time, even appearing on trial in 2008 for child pornography charges but was acquitted.
Cook County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari confirmed on Monday night that R Kelly had raised the $100,000 bail, which was 10 percent of the $1 million bond set by a judge.
It is suspected that he struggled to raise the $100,000 necessary, and that a female "friend" had to assist him.
His court appearance and plea has arrived only weeks after Surviving R Kelly aired on Lifetime; an explosive documentary series about the allegations of continuous assault from dozens of women, including his former wife.
He is currently being tried for sexual assaults which apparently happened from 1998 onwards. He met one of the four women on her 16th birthday at a restaurant, and another 16-year-old when she asked for his autograph.
Robert Sylvester Kelly was ordered by the court to hand in his passport, and to have zero contact with anyone under the age of 18. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 22.
The well known high-profile women's rights attorney Gloria Allred claimed in a news conference yesterday that she is now representing over six women who allege that the singer abused them.
Rap star and all-round hilarious legend Cardi B exploded at Instagram fans last night before disabling her profile altogether. We're DEVO.
The artist went on a rage-filled rant over the negative comments surrounding her Grammy Awards win; she was the first female solo artist to win Best Rap Album.
Apparently some felt she didn't deserve it, and she had some WORDS to say about the criticism, saying she "worked her ass off" to make Invasion of Privacy.
She reminded fans that she was pregnant while making the hit album, which helped her to make history at Sunday's ceremony; "I'm sick of this sh*t."
"I work hard for my motherf*cking album. I remember last year when everyone was saying Cardi got snubbed but now there’s a problem? My album went two-times platinum my n***** in every chart that there was, my album was always Top 10."
"Number one album as well. I worked my ass off, locked myself in the studio for three months then went to sleep in my bed for four days straight – pregnant," she said.
The star then deleted her entire Instagram profile, refusing to take any of the haters online. She made sure to thank her baby daughter Kulture in her Grammy acceptance speech, because her pregnancy gave her the motivation to finish the album.
"When I found out I was pregnant, my album wasn’t complete, I had three songs done. I had to shoot videos while I was still not showing. It was very long nights."
She posted a video thanking her fans and organisations for every single award she'd ever won, explaining that each is unique and special; "‘This sh*t is crazy," she said. "Every award is special to me, from Grammys, AMAs, Billboards, Nickelodeon, awards I get in another motherf*cking country, I don’t give a f*ck."
We hope the online community don't ruin her win for her, it's well-deserved and she's made HISTORY as a woman. Fair play, Cardi, you do you.
The incident happened in Nantucket, and Spacey has been ordered to have zero contact with his accuser following the sexual assault charges.
The Daily Mail are reporting that the former House of Cards actor claims the teenager; "said he was a 23-year-old student studying business at Wake Forest University."
He also maintains the young restaurant worker "sought out a friend for the specific purpose of introducing him" to Spacey.
In court yesterday, (Spacey also was caught speeding before appearing) the motion claims the teen "welcomed drinks" from the famous actor and allowed him to; "put his arm around around him near the piano while they did sing-a-longs and even left the bar to smoke."
It's alleged that the young man gave his phone number to Spacey, which the motion states suggested "mutual and consensual flirting".
Spacey doesn't actually deny groping the teen, but it does state that the teenager "did not object to the alleged touching, he did not ask Spacey to stop and he did not remove himself from the situation".
The young woman who was in contact with the accuser was never told about the alleged assault, it is purported.
A number of accusations have emerged about the veteran movie star, such as Anthony Rapp's explosive claims;
CNN reported yesterday that Spacey gave a nod of acknowledgement following the judge's order for him to refrain from contacting his accuser.
A spokeman lawyer said: "The commonwealth is requesting that Mr Spacey be ordered to stay away and no contact with the named victim and his family."
Judge Thomas Barrett said; "Certainly the court will impose those conditions."
The 59-year-old actor was seen arriving at court surrounded by paparazzi, less than a five-minute walk from the place where the alleged assault took place; Club Car lounge.
Spacey was silent on the claim and refused to comment as he left the courtroom and headed to his car. The next hearing date is March 4, but the actor is not obliged to attend.
Warning: this article may be upsetting for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, assault or harassment.
In case you've missed the drama surrounding R Kelly following the release of a six-hour length Lifetime documentary regarding his sexual predation, the explosive TV episodes have one again brought the dangerous rapper to light.
Horrifying allegations have been made against singer R Kelly for three decades, including an upsetting trial involving 21 counts of child pornography.
The six-part documentary made by Dream Hampton, Surviving R Kelly, retraced reports of the R&B artist's consistent manipulation and abuse of underage girls and sexual misconduct going back 30 years, for which he has never faced any consequences.
Lady Gaga is now being sufficiently ROASTED for declining to appear in the documentary, despite having collaborated with him back in 2013 on the (ironic) track Do What U Want.
Twitter users are calling her out on her debated hypocrisy, as she plays a large role in the #MeToo movement and declared that she has had her own abuser, though won't name him, yet works with known paedophiles.
Her silence in 2019 on the issue has allowed the public to instead retrace a damaging 2013 interview, where the Shallow singer DEFENDS him while in Japan;
"R Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us." Whoa, whoa, whoa. This doesn't look good for Gaga, we have to admit.
I'm confused how #LadyGaga can be so vocal in her support of #MeToo yet remain silent about R. Kelly who by the time she collaborated with him was a well known pedophile and sexual predator. #SurvivingRKelly
She is choosing to remain silent for the moment, though more than a dozen victims who claim to have been raped, enslaved and abused while underage by Kelly have spoken out in the documentary.
Gaga was one of many celebrities who declined to participate in the Surviving R Kelly series, as well as Jay-Z (another collaborator), Dave Chapelle and Mary J Blige.
The move has angered many Gaga fans, given her public history of supporting sexual assault victims.
While Lady Gaga is getting ready for the #GoldenGlobes…she is still silent on R. Kelly…
Jay Z, who during that time did a collaboration album with him, also choose to stay silent…
Is this your pop queen? Is this your Hip-hop king? #SurvivingRKelly
The rage online is palpable, as numerous fans have pointed out that this exact silence is how Kelly has been left to his own enabled devices for years.
In reality, he has had a support system around him who helped him with his predation.
Despite his child pornography trial taking place in 2002, hundreds of high profile celebrities have collaborated with him since, and are potentially only appearing regretful now because it is damaging to their brand.
Here some of the people who have collaborated with R Kelly since his 2002 indictment:
-Jay-Z
-The Game
-T. I.
-T-Pain
-Ludacris
-Kid Rock
-Usher
-Keri Hilson
-2 Chainz
-Lil Wayne
-Jeremih
-Nick Cannon
-Snoop Dogg
-Ciara
-Bow Wow
-Chance the Rapper
A conversation has also arisen surrounding the notion of sexual assault victims and race, with many pointing out that if these women had been black, their stories may have ended differently.
Chance the Rapper has apologised for collaborating with the singer, but upset many people by admitting that he didn't care about the women because they were, in fact, black.
"Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake. I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black."
His honesty may be important in continuing this important talk, but the words have understandably hurt millions of women of the black community, who face oppression daily in America.
He later apologised for the quotes, saying they were taken out of context and explaining that the focus should be on the fact that those young black victims were never cared for.
Jada Pinkett Smith is among the celebrities who are asking the same imperative question; Do young black women matter?
“It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated with Kelly to come forward." Heartbreakingly, even friends such as Questlove declined to appear, despite believing the accusers' words.
John Legend was the only high-profile person who appeared in the film, writing on Twitter that it was an "easy decision":
To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn't feel risky at all. I believe these women and don't give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.
R. Kelly has continuously denied the allegations and was acquitted in 2002 of child pornography charges, yet the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.
The documentary is massively upsetting to watch, with woman after woman telling stories with paralleling patterns of his behaviour.
Families of young women are still claiming that their daughters are being held captive by R. Kelly as 'sex slaves.'
Chicago reporter Jim DeRogatis made a report in July of 2017 in which he asserts that Kelly keeps his victims captive in Chicago and Atlanta, and two victims (Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary) remain in his captivity.
Human rights organisation BlackWomensBlueprint tweeted,
"The sad truth is survivors still face push-back from naysayers who question their stories or dismiss the crisis of sexual assault- especially against black women and girls. It's a terrible burden to have to endure."
Jerhonda Pace, a survivor of R.Kelly, said, “I felt like a prisoner. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It was just me. I went into a depression. I was mentally drained, because he would break me down, then build me up, then make me feel like sh*t again, then do it all over again."
"He would really manipulate my mind. The breaking point for me was when Rob slapped me, and he choked me until I blacked out," she concluded.
Let's not forget that when the singer was 27-years-old, he forged then 15-year-old R&B sensation Aaliyah's documents to claim she was 18 in order to marry her.
The Princess of Urban Pop later died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001 after the unlicensed pilot had cocaine and alcohol in his system.
The documentary's film-maker Dream Hampton claims she hopes "Surviving R. Kelly" serves as a starter tool to "shift culture" and "talk about rape culture and organise against patriarchy, which harms us all."
Non-for-profit advocacy organisation Color of Change tweeted the "strength of black women & girls is determined by how much suffering we can endure. The women in #SurvivingRKelly are our heroes."
Let's hope the conversation will finally spark action and justice for these women.
