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R. Kelly Sympathizes With Bill Cosby, Calls Cosby Accusations 'Strange'
R. Kelly performs at the Staples Center in 2013 (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images for BET)
Singer R. Kelly, who has been accused of having sex with underage women, says he sympathizes with Bill Cosby and calls the accusations against Cosby "strange."In a candid interview with GQ, Kelly opened up about his life, including being sexually abused as a child by a relative, his relationship with Aaliyah (he would not confirm whether they were illegally married when he was an adult and she was a minor), and even the allegations that have been levied against him. Just last month, Kelly walked out of an interview with the Huffington Post when his past legal issues were brought up.
When speaking about his desires to be a present father-figure to his children, Kelly leads his interviewer down another path by saying, "[W]hen my kids were born, I was Bill Cosby in the house. You know, the good one. You know, let's be clear there: how we saw Bill Cosby when we were coming up." When asked if the recent allegations against Cosby have changed his perception of him, Kelly responds:
Well, my opinion on that is, I don't know what happened. I'm a fan of Bill Cosby's from the Bill Cosby show, of course—who's not?—and for me to give my opinion on something that I have no idea if it's true or not, all I can say is that it was a long time ago. And when I look on TV and I see the 70-, 80-, 90-year-old ladies talking about what happened when they were 17, 18, or 19, there's something strange about it. That's my opinion. It's just strange. It's strange. Strange is strange. I can't explain strange. That's why strange is strange. Because it's something we can't explain.
"You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn't true," he adds.
Kelly goes on to say that his own accusers—women who have accused R. Kelly of sexually assaulting them when they were underage—were extorting him and says they were "absolutely lying." And as far as that Dave Chappelle sketch "Piss On You," lampooning the alleged sex tape showing Kelly having sex and urinating on an underage girl, he plead ignorance of the comedian: "David Chappelle?"
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