Controversial R&B artist R. Kelly — himself the subject of sexual assault rumors and child porn charges — has come to the defense of disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, insisting that only the comic and God know what really happened.
Kelly made his remarks during an interview with GQ magazine.
“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.”
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But the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer, 49, did qualify his statement by saying there is one condition under which he would believe Cosby’s accusers.
“If God showed me that they were telling the truth, I would say that’s wrong. I don’t care if it was a zillion years ago. But God would have to do that, because God is the only one can show me that. No man can tell me that. No woman can tell me that. And when you wait 70 years, 50 years, 40 years, to say something that simple, it’s strange. You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn’t true.”
Kelly was referring to his 2008 trial on child pornography charges and multiple cases of people suing him for having sex with minors. Rumors that have haunted his career ever since.
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The “Bump ‘n Grind” performer was found not guilty at his trial, and he settled the lawsuits on the advice of lawyers — even though he maintains he was innocent because his accusers were lying.
“All of them,” he said. “And it wasn’t many. It wasn’t like it was a whole ton of people. But the people that did were absolutely lying. Absolutely.”
