One of R. Kelly’s remaining live-in girlfriends has denied that he ever abused her, claiming that an online account last month set up under her name was made by an ‘imposter’ who lied when they said the singer had forced her into abortions.
Joycelyn Savage is one of the few women still living with Kelly since his alleged sexual crimes against scores of women and girls was laid bare in a docu-series and in criminal filings over the last year.
The 24-year-old has spoken out in his defense multiple times to insist she lives with him of free own free will. Her family – who have not seen her for years – say she is brainwashed and controlled by him.
Last month, an account on the website Patreon – a site used by singers and musicians where fans pay to subscribe to their pages for updates – claiming to be operated by Savage emerged.
On it, the user claimed to have been forced into multiple abortions by Kelly, who is currently being held without bond in a Chicago jail with four separate indictments against him across three states.
But on Wednesday night, Savage claimed it was a fake and that Kelly has never abused her.
Joycelyn Savage, 24, released a video statement on Wednesday night claiming she was not a victim, as had been suggested, and that she was standing by Kelly. She also released a message from him from jail
In a prepared statement that she read from a cell phone in a recorded video sent to TMZ, she said: ‘I am truly tired of all of the lies that they are saying about the man we love so much and our best friend R.Kelly.’
She then released a message from him from jail.
‘He truly wants to thank all of his fans for believing in him plus he wants you guys to know that he appreciates all of your letters. It takes him a while but he reads them all,’ she said.
He truly wants to thank all of his fans for believing in him plus he wants you guys to know that he appreciates all of your letters
She went on to call all the accusations against Kelly ‘nonsense’ and say she refused to be part of ‘the assassination’ of his ‘name, music career and character.’
Once she had finished reading the prepared statement, she went off-script and became angrier.
‘I’ve been through so much with him. We have a bond that is so special that no one can ever break.
‘I would never in a million years hurt him like this. I would never do that.
‘It’s just really, really, really sad that somebody would pretend to be me – pretend to be me! And put it out in the world and say that I’m a victim, that I am brainwashed, I’m a sex slave. Lord have mercy!
‘It doesn’t get worse than that. That I have Stockholm syndrome?’ she fumed.
Savage added that she just wants him to ‘come home’.
‘Please free him and let him come home in peace! I promise you, he is not the person you guys think he is,’ she said.
Savage and Azriel Clary have been living with Kelly for years.
A Patreon account last month emerged under her name. On it, the user claimed that Kelly had been abusing her for years
The Instagram account linked to Patreon said Savage was impregnated twice by Kelly but that he forced her to have abortions both times. It has now been deleted, and she claims it was an ‘imposter’ who set it up
Savage (left) and Azriel Clary (right) are the only two women still standing by Kelly from his harem of ‘sex slaves’. They are shown in July, attending one of his many court hearings
Savage was 19 when she said she met Kelly at a concert in 2015. He promised to help her with her music career, telling her he would make her the ‘next Aaliyah’.
Kelly famously married Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27. She died in a plane crash in 2001.
Clary met Kelly when she was 17 in 2015. Her parents have since told how she arranged to meet up with him at a hotel without their knowledge.
Savage’s family said that they were ‘saddened’ by the recent developments.
‘We’re saddened and disappointed to learn that Joycelyn Savage has said that she was not the person operating the Patreon account.
‘We deeply desired to hear her story and in her own voice outside of the presence of Robert Sylvester Kelly or anyone associated with him.
‘For nearly three years, Joycelyn Savage has not been able to speak outside of a controlled environment created by Mr. Kelly.
‘Her video today was not any different.
‘For three years, Joycelyn’s family has spent the holidays without their daughter.
‘They love her and long to embrace her once again,’ a statement released by their attorney said.
Multiple women have come forward to accuse Kelly of keeping them as sex slaves, claiming he controlled what they ate, when they went to the bathroom, and subjected them to sexual abuse while they were involved with him.
They all have said that scripted denials of abuse, the likes of which Azriel and Joycelyn have made, are an indicator of how he continues to control them.
He is currently in jail awaiting his next court appearance.
Kelly has four indictments against him.
The first is a state case in Chicago alleging 10 counts of sexual abuse, which Illinois prosecutors filed in March last year.
Last July, he was hit with two federal indictments; one in New York and one in Illinois, which allege racketeering along with sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
In August this year, he was charged in a fourth case in Minnesota for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.
On Tuesday, a judge in Chicago set a trial date for September next year for him but it is unclear which of his many cases it applies to.
He has pleaded not guilty across the board and believes he is the victim of a set-up from women looking to be paid.
Kelly, 52, is shown in court in Chicago in September