R. Kelly stormed off the set of an interview with HuffPost Live on Monday, refusing to answer questions about his long history of sexual assault allegations.
The singer was promoting his latest album, “The Buffet,” and took offense to a question about whether or not the allegations have affected his album sales. After a contentious back-and-forth with interviewer Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani, he walked off the set saying, “This interview is over.”
Modarressy-Tehrani asked Kelly to respond to fans who are conflicted about supporting his music because of his controversial past, but the singer refused to cooperate or acknowledge the “negative” line of questioning.
“I didn’t come here for negative, I came here for positive … I don’t give people that’s negative toward me the time of day,” he said.
He continued to talk over Modarressy-Tehrani as she tried to clarify the line of questioning. “I have nothing against you,” he said, ignoring her as she tried to explain the questions relevance.
“I am going to sit here and talk to you like you are the beautiful lady you are,” he continued. “And I am going to talk to you with respect. And I am going to let you know that any other negative things come at me out of your mouth, as far as negativity, I’m going to get up and I’m going to walk out.”
The conversation got more heated when Modarressy-Tehrani refused to change the subject and continued to push Kelly to answer her questions.
“I did not come here to get interrogated. I didn’t come here for a deposition,” he said, then going on to ask her if she knew what a deposition is. She assured him she did.
After Kelly told the host that she had one last chance to ask a question that wasn’t “negative,” Modarressy-Tehrani continued to press him to address the topic. “What do you say to the fans who don’t want to buy your music?” she asked.
The singer then stood up, took off his microphone and walked off the set, first taking a moment to tell Modarressy-Tehrani that she’s “so beautiful.”