MEMPHIS, Tenn. — R. Kelly spoke what he is calling his truth during an interview with CBS Wednesday morning, and it has people talking. After the interview, one of the young women who currently lives with Kelly spoke with her family for the first time in years.
Joycelyn Savage finally broke her silence by calling her family. They say it’s the first time in two years.
“Why haven’t you been able to call? Why can’t you call your family or friends?” Jonjelyn Savage, Joycelyn’s mother, said. During the phone call, Joycelyn repeatedly asked her family to stop fighting for her to come home.
It was short and to the point, but enough to reinforce their beliefs that she’s being controlled.
“How would you know you are happy?” Jonjelyn asked. “Mommy loves you. No matter what anyone says, we love you.”
The Savage family didn’t buy any of it. In fact, they think the call might have been brought on by R. Kelly’s recent interview with Gayle King.
“Y’all killing me with this sh-t. I gave you 30 years of my f–cking career,” R. Kelly said during the interview.
Kelly claims he’s speaking out to share his truth. But some attorney’s, like Brenda Derouen, saw the interview and thought, “What is R. Kelly doing?”
“I think it was a horrible move. We want to make sure that person is being tried in the court of the law, and not the court of public opinion,” Derouen said.
She’s thinking about the 10 counts of criminal sexual abuse he’s currently facing, and the 70 years of possible prison time that’s on the line if he’s convicted of the new charges involving minors.
“It’s just really going to hurt his case. He just presented himself in a very, I hate to say it, aggressive way.”
Kelly denied all allegations of sleeping with anyone underage. The singer wasn’t the only emotional one. Azriel Clary’s emotions boiled over as Joycelyn sat next to her, comforting her. Both of the women defended the man they call their boyfriend. “These are all (expletive) lies for money. You guys believe in some (expletive) that our parents are saying. This is all (expletive) lies for money. And if you can’t see that, you’re ignorant and you’re stupid,” Clary said.
Clary and Kelly both say this all comes down to money, and the parents don’t really care.