July 18 (UPI) — R. Kelly is denying allegations that he is holding women against their will as part of an abusive cult inside his rented properties in Atlanta and Chicago.
“Mr. Robert Kelly is both alarmed and disturbed by the recent revelations attributed to him,” the singer’s lawyer Linda Mensch said in a statement. “Mr. Kelly unequivocally denies such accusations.”
The accusations come from a BuzzFeed report released Monday that cites three unnamed sets of parents who state they have not heard from their daughters for months as Kelly brainwashed them as part of a cult.
The parents said that their daughters, who are over the age of consent and who got with Kelly to further their music careers, have their daily activities controlled by the 50-year-old including what they can wear and eat. Kelly has also been accused of demanding sex with the women and recording it.
Three ex-members of Kelly’s entourage also came forward to support the parents’ statements regarding his controlling behavior.
Joycelyn Savage, who is currently living with Kelly, spoke with TMZ Monday and denied that she was living in a cult. “I am in a happy place in my life and I’m not being brainwashed. I am totally fine and happy where I’m at,” she said.
Kelly was previously acquitted of 14 charges of making child pornography in 2008 following the release of a videotape that allegedly featured the performer having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
