R. Kelly is sick of answering questions about his child pornography trial earlier this year, insisting he shouldn’t have to discuss the charges after he was cleared on all counts.

The Bump N’ Grind hitmaker was exonerated of 14 charges, including videotaping himself having sex with a girl as young as 13 years old. He faced 15 years in prison if convicted.

Kelly opened up for the first time about his June acquittal during a special for cable network BET on Tuesday, when he discussed the repercussions of the case with broadcaster and journalist Toure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And he indicated that he will no longer field questions about the trial in a bid to leave the legal mess in his past.

He said, “It’s time for me to move on. I can’t keep answering these questions. If you were charged with something and found innocent, then you can’t be found guilty for being found innocent.”

Source

WENN

R&B star R. Kelly is to be questioned over his alleged role in a tour scam in South Africa.

The singer has been accused of profiting $130,000 from a tour despite failing to appear, according to reports.

Local woman Busiswe Zakwe has been arrested for allegedly swindling thousands from investors by promising them they would benefit from ticket sales if they brought an R. Kelly tour to the country in 2005.

Kelly never appeared in the country, but Zakwe claims she deposited the money into his account.

Local police have confirmed the bank account information that Zakwe claims to be Kelly’s is authentic, however the whereabouts of the money is unknown.

Police are reportedly now seeking to question Kelly about the cash.

Zakwe has been charged with fraud and is due to appear in a local court on September 10th.

Source

WENN

R. Kelly’s defense attorney has publicly apologized to teen actress Miley Cyrus for using her name at his client’s child pornography trial.

The singer - real name Robert Kelly - was acquitted of 14 counts of child pornography in a Chicago, Illinois on Friday.

During the closing arguments of the trial, lawyer Sam Adam Jr. had used Hannah Montana star Cyrus to explain how teenagers gossip in a bid to prove the sex act his client was accused of didn’t happen.

He told the jury: “This wasn’t a gardener or the man down the street or a janitor. This was a 13-year-old girl having sex with a superstar, and she doesn’t tell anyone? She doesn’t let it slip to her best friend? Never? Not anyone? You can’t keep a 13-year-old’s mouth closed over Hannah Montana tickets, but this?”

But Adam has since apologized for using Cyrus as an example.

He tells MTV.com, “Miley Cyrus woke up this morning (saying), ‘Why me?!’ Hannah Montana is the biggest thing out - no offence, Robert. And to Miley, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring you up, and if you took it negatively, I’m sorry.”

And Adam admits Kelly was unaware of his plan to use Cyrus’ name, adding: “No, I didn’t run it by him. I probably should have. Now that I think about it, I probably should have.”

Source

WENN

If OJ can get off, then so can R. Kelly

Chicago jury has acquitted R. Kelly on all counts at his child pornography trial.

R. Kelly is accused of making a home sex video with an underage girl at his child pornography trial.

The verdict came six years after the R&B superstar was first charged with videotaping himself having sex with a young girl. Prosecutors had said she was as young as 13 at the time.

The Grammy award-winning singer dabbed his face with a handkerchief and hugged each of his four attorneys after the verdict was read. The singer had faced 15 years in prison if convicted.

Minutes later, surrounded by bodyguards, he left the courthouse without comment. Dozens of fans screamed and cheered as he climbed into a waiting SUV.

Both Kelly and the now 23-year-old alleged victim had denied they were the ones appearing on the tape, which was played for the jury at the beginning and end of the trial.

The prosecution’s star witness was a woman who said she engaged in three-way sex with Kelly and the girl from the video. Defense attorneys argued the man on the tape didn’t have a large mole on his back, as Kelly does.

The jury of nine men and three women included the wife of a Baptist preacher from Kelly’s Chicago-area hometown, as well as a compliance officer for a Chicago investment firm and a man in his 60s who emigrated from then-Communist Romania nearly 40 years ago. Eight jurors were white and four were black.

Jurors took the sex tape at the center of the trial with them, and a monitor was set up in the jury room in case they wanted to review it.

Kelly was charged with 14 counts of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl, who prosecutors say was as young as 13.

The 41-year-old superstar’s trial was repeatedly delayed, once because the judge seriously injured himself falling off a ladder and another time because Kelly had emergency surgery to remove his appendix.

CNN

Jurors in the R. Kelly child pornography trial viewed the notorious 27-minute sex tape on Tuesday (May 20), which prosecutors claim shows the R&B singer engaging in ”vile, disturbing, and disgusting sex acts” with an underage girl. The prosecution told the court that the tape, shown just hours after opening statements, depicts Kelly having sex with a girl who was as young as 13 years old when it was made between Jan. 1, 1998, and Nov. 1, 2000. Defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. used his opening statements to tell jurors that Kelly was not the man on the tape, calling into question the video’s origins as well as the identity of the girl depicted. The 23-year-old woman prosecutors say was a minor at the time of the taping also denies that she’s the person on the video. Prosecutor Shauna Boliker told the court that she would not be calling the alleged victim to the stand, but did not explain why. Adam told jurors the woman is not being called to testify because she isn’t the person prosecutors say is shown in the tape. Kelly has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 15 years if convicted.

Yahoo, WENN