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Entertainment

A New Tape Appears To Show R. Kelly Having Sex With An Underage Girl

This is the second time this has happened

by Sesali Bowen

CNN is reporting that they have seen footage from a VHS tape that appears to show R. Kelly engaged in "multiple sex acts" with an underage girl. In the video, the girl refers to her genitalia as 14 years old. CNN says that the video, which it describes as "clear and explicit," is 42 minutes long and features two scenes (one in a living room and another in a bedroom), including one in which the man urinates on the girl.

According to a press statement tweeted by attorney Michael Avenatti who uncovered the tape, the video is not the same as the one at the center of Kelly's 2001 case (in that video Kelly allegedly had sex and urinated on a minor too) and is still within the Illinois statute of limitations.

Avenatti, who has been investigating allegations against Kelly pro bono since April of last year, told CNN that his client identified both Kelly and the girl in the video. "He worked for and has known R. Kelly for decades and he met the girl on a number of occasions," he said.

This news comes on the heels of major blowback against the singer following the documentary series, Surviving R. Kelly, on Lifetime. In the aftermath, the singer has been banned from the city of Philadelphia, separated from his record label, and struggling to find a distributor for his album. He has also come under investigation in Illinois, where the new tape was handed over to the State's Attorney, and Georgia.

I want to stay hopeful this latest piece of evidence will be the one that finally sends Kelly to jail, after three decades of preying on young, Black girls.

Avenatti, who has been investigating allegations against Kelly pro bono since April of last year, told CNN that his client identified both Kelly and the girl in the video. "He worked for and has known R. Kelly for decades and he met the girl on a number of occasions," he said.

This news comes on the heels of major blowback against the singer following the documentary series, Surviving R. Kelly, on Lifetime. In the aftermath, the singer has been banned from the city of Philadelphia, separated from his record label, and struggling to find a distributor for his album. He has also come under investigation in Illinois, where the new tape was handed over to the State's Attorney, and Georgia.

I want to stay hopeful this latest piece of evidence will be the one that finally sends Kelly to jail, after three decades of preying on young, Black girls.