R. Kelly Charged With Sexual Abuse in Chicago, Reports Say – The New York Times

Mr. Kelly, 52, has never been convicted of a crime, but he has faced accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse for years. More than 20 years ago, Vibe magazine questioned a marriage certificate that said the singer Aaliyah was 18 when she and Mr. Kelly were wed. She was, in fact, 15 at the time and the marriage was annulled. Mr. Greenberg has said Mr. Kelly did not know she was underage at the time. Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001.

Now a legacy act selling concert tickets largely on the strength of his catalog, Mr. Kelly was a powerful hitmaker when he was arrested on child pornography charges in 2002. He continued to release hits as his lawyers filed motion after motion, delaying the trial for six years. The girl from the video never testified, and though 14 witnesses identified her, Mr. Kelly’s lawyers argued successfully that her identity could not be proven.

In 2017, the allegations picked up again when the music journalist Jim DeRogatis wrote articles for BuzzFeed News that described Mr. Kelly keeping women in a “cult,” in which he separated them from their families and exerted tremendous control over their lives.

While Mr. Kelly seemed impervious to the accusations, things appeared to take a turn in January, after “Surviving R. Kelly” caused a stir. Law enforcement authorities in Illinois and Georgia, where he has lived, began looking into his conduct. And after tremendous public pressure from activists, Mr. Kelly was dropped by his label, RCA, just two weeks after the program aired.