R. Kelly's Lawyer Quits, But Not Because Of Abuse Claims

R. Kelly is now without a team. His publicist, lawyer, and an executive assistant who was with the artist for 10 years have all cut ties with the controversial singer. That they all left him following the newly-released details over the alleged sexual abuse of a teen, which was seen in the BBC3 documentary R. Kelly: Sex, Girls, and Videotapes that aired on March 23 may have been just a timely coincidence.

“Effective April 16, 2018, I no longer represent Mr. Robert Kelly,” publicist Trevian Kutti told Rolling Stone in a statement. R. Kelly’s lawyer, Linda Mensch, who has represented the singer during his most recent sexual accusations over the last four years also released the following statement to Rolling Stone: "I no longer represent R. Kelly. My resignation was unrelated to any allegations related to Mr. Kelly’s social life."

Even the most horrendous criminals deserve representation, including the scandalous R. Kelly. However, if the recent accusations — which, by the way, are just the latest in a long line of appalling allegations including that he is running a sex cult and dates back to claims that he coerced the late Aaliyah into marrying him — didn’t make him her quit representing him, why did she draw the line?

Diana Copeland, R. Kelly’s executive assistant who’s been his handler for the past decade, also resigned on April 1. The BBC confirmed her departure; however, she refrained from disclosing the reasoning of her exit.

While R. Kelly has faced allegations of sexual abuse from women and victims families, the documentary — which is only available for viewing in the U.K. — highlights disturbing new claims. A former girlfriend of Kelly, who goes by the name of Kitti Jones, said young women were groomed to be his pet.

According to the Guardian, Jones said: “I was introduced to one of the girls, that he told me he ‘trained’ since she was 14, those were his words. I saw that she was dressed like me, that she was saying the things I’d say and her mannerisms were like mine. That’s when it clicked in my head that he had been grooming me to become one of his pets. He calls them his pets.”

The timing of the released documentary and the decamp of R. Kelly’s team is definitely curious.