In a new interview, R. Kelly told Gayle King that while he isn’t mad at stars like John Legend and Lady Gaga for publicly disavowing him after he was accused of sexual abuse, he does think they are being unprofessional.
After mentioning Legend, who in January called Kelly a “serial child rapist,” and Lady Gaga, who publicly apologized for recording a song with Kelly, King asked the singer “How does all of this sit with you, how you’re viewed now in the industry?”
To this, Kelly called Gaga “a very great talent,” but said that it’s “unfortunate that her intelligence go to such a short level when it comes to that,” presumably meaning her apology. Kelly said he has “nothing against” Legend and Gaga, but thinks “it’s not professional for them to do that.”
His reason? “Because something like this can happen to any artist. Anybody famous. Anybody famous can get accused of so many different things.”
Unsurprisingly, King disagreed with Kelly telling him that “people have gone their whole careers and not have the allegations that have been leveled against you.”
Last month, Kelly pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. His next court date is March 22.
The full interview will air Wednesday morning on CBS. You can watch the latest clip below, and watch previously-released clips from the interview here.
"Something like this can happen to any artist. Anybody famous. Anybody famous can get accused of so many different things." — @RKelly tells @GayleKing in an exclusive interview airing Wednesday on @CBSThisMorning. https://t.co/Ne5j52qxqh pic.twitter.com/hkp5t0Fndq
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) March 6, 2019