ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Tapes capture R. Kelly threatening his victims: prosecutors

In this courtroom artist's sketch R. Kelly, left, listens during his trial in New York, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) In this courtroom artist's sketch R. Kelly, left, listens during his trial in New York, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)
Share
NEW YORK -

WARNING: This story contains explicit content and may not be suitable for all readers.

Prosecutors want a New York City jury at the R. Kelly sex-trafficking trial to hear profane video and audio recordings they say demonstrate how he threatened his victims with violence.

On one of the 2008 tapes, an enraged Kelly can be heard accusing an unidentified woman of lying to him before beginning to assault her, according to a court document filed on Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn.

"If you lie to me, I'm going to f--- you up," Kelly says.

The star R&B singer is captured on another recording berating a second woman from Florida, identified as a "Jane Doe" he accused of stealing a Rolex watch from him, the filing says.

"You better not ever take from me again or I will be in Florida and something will happen to you," he says. "You understand what I'm telling you?"

Prosecutors had planned to call the second woman as a witness. But they decided against it after she "started to have panic attacks and appeared to have an emotional breakdown" while listening to the tape in preparation for her testimony, the filing says.

The defendant bragged about having "cameras everywhere" in his Chicago studio and other locations he used to keep an eye on his victims, it adds.

Kelly, now 54, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges accusing him of sexually abusing several women, girls and boys during the course of his 30-year singing career. He has vehemently denied the charges, claiming that the women were groupies who wanted to take advantage of his fame and fortune achieved through hits like "I Believe Can Fly."

The judge indicated on Tuesday that she would grant the government's request to use the tapes as evidence at the trial that began on Aug. 18. There was no immediate response to a message seeking comment from Kelly's defense team.

The request came a day after another witness testified she saw Kelly in a "sexual situation" with R&B phenom Aaliyah around 1993, when she was only 13 or 14. The woman also told the jury that Kelly had sex with her when she was 15 -- the latest in a series of accusers who say he sexually exploited them when they were underage.

The woman -- a former backup performer for Kelly who testified not using her real name -- described opening a door on Kelly's tour bus to find him kneeling in front of Aaliyah and appearing to perform oral sex on the girl. She said she immediately shut the door and left without ever speaking to Kelly about the encounter.

The jury had previously heard a former Kelly employee testify how two fake IDs were used to clear the way for Kelly to marry Aaliyah after he began a sexual relationship with her and believed she had become pregnant. A marriage license that was put into evidence falsely listed her age as 18; Kelly was 27 at the time.

Prosecutors say Kelly wanted to use the marriage, which was later annulled, to shield himself from criminal charges related to having sex with a minor and to prevent her from testifying against him.

Aaliyah, whose full name was Aaliyah Dana Haughton, worked with Kelly, who wrote and produced her 1994 debut album, "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number." She died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.