A new videotape that allegedly depicts R. Kelly sexually assaulting an underage girl has been obtained by the Cook County State’s Attorney Office in Chicago, according to reports made by Consequence of Sound, Pitchfork, and various other media outlets.
The videotape was placed in possession of attorney Michael Avenatti, whose firm is representing a client that was formerly associated with Kelly. The news outlet CNN shared intimate details about the contents of the video, including that it’s 45 minutes in length and that it’s allegedly “clear and explicit.” mxdwn will not share the intimate details CNN claims due to its graphic and triggering content, and also respect to the underage victim.
Attorney Avenatti recently made an official statement on Twitter regarding the situation. He wrote, “included in the evidence we recently uncovered and recovered is a VHS videotape of Mr. Kelly engaging in multiple sexual assaults of a girl underage. This tape, which is clear, is approximately 45 minutes in length and has never previously been publicly disclosed or, until recently, provided to law enforcement.” Towards the end of the statement, he updates the public on the current actions being taken regarding new alleged evidence. “As part of our effort to ensure that Mr. Kelly is finally held accountable for his repeated sexual assaults of minors spanning over two decades, we have provided extensive information, including the videotape described above and witnesses, to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in Chicago.”
In response to press inquiries, attached is a stmt regarding our work on the R. Kelly matter since April, including the discovery of new critical video evidence establishing his guilt. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this predator is brought to justice. pic.twitter.com/D0dGFzgXlX
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) February 14, 2019
Attorney Avenatti went to provide further context to the new development in Kelly’s case. He told the public that the new videotape isn’t the same one that was used for evidence in Kelly’s 2002 child pornography case, which allegedly featured him performing sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl. He was acquitted for this case after delaying the trial until 2008, six years after the original allegations were made public. Avenatti went to further claim that “the time frames of the sexual assaults depicted in the video is within the Illinois statute of limitations.”
It has only been a month and a few weeks since Lifetime debuted the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, a series that details the allegations of mental and sexual abuse women day they endured for years at thr hands of R. Kelly. The series documents the most infamous allegations connected to R. Kelly, from his illegal marriage to a then 15-year-old R&B singer Aaliyah when he was 27-year-old Kelly, to an alleged sex cult of underage girls he operated in Georgia
Since the docuseries release, the singer has been criticized in the media. From Lady Gaga coming out against her 2013 collaboration with Kelly and dropped from the Sony Music label, to being under a criminal investigation in Georgia, this documentary has made a profound impact in our culture.
When R. Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg was contacted about the new alleged evidence, he had this to say, “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.” He was later contacted by Pitchfork and went to deny of any allegation of Kelly engaging in illegal conduct.
Further updates are to come as this investigation is developing.