It’s been another eventful day in the trial against disgraced R&B singer R.Kelly. After hearing multiple statements from women accusing the singer of grooming and sexual abuse, the first alleged male victim took the stand today, August 30th. Like the women before him, the man alleges Kelly groomed him and exploited him while the man, who remains anonymous, claimed to be in high school, according to Billboard.
The man alleged the first time he met up with R.Kelly alone was in the singer’s Chicago home in 2007. The alleged victim claims that he visited Kelly under false promises, that he would help the man with his music career. He further alleges that Kelly asked him “what I was willing to do for music.” The witness, 17 at the time, then told Kelly he would do anything, whatever the singer would want him to do, like carrying his bags. To this the singer allegedly answered that “that is not it.” According to the witness, Kelly asked him if he would ever have sexual fantasies about men, and then “crawled down on his knees and proceeded to give me oral sex.” The man alleges that Kelly then told him to keep it between them.
The witness further alleges that Kelly later summoned a naked girl from a hiding place, who then proceeded to give both Kelly and the man oral sex. The man also states he went back to Kelly after the incident, “I really wanted to make it in the music industry,” the witness said.
Claims about an alleged male victim of R.Kelly first made the news late last month, after the prosecution pleaded to add the claim to his trial. They are not new charges against the “Believe I Can Fly” singer. Since then the trial has been closely watched by the media, with new details emerging almost daily. Most recently R. Kelly’s former tour manager took the stand, talking about the marriage between Kelly and the late Aaliyah, who was underage at this time and as they believed pregnant.