K. Michelle is no longer dancing around the R. Kelly issue.
During a new appearance on BET’s The Jason Lee Show, the singer revealed for the first time that her connection to R. Kelly was more than professional. While discussing his influence on her career and the controversy that has followed him for decades, K. Michelle admitted that the relationship turned romantic.
“If it wasn’t for Robert Kelly, I would not know the business,” she said. "I would not understand the skills of songwriting."
Then she made her most direct statement yet: “I was in love with him."
K. Michelle has talked about Kelly for years without ever fully describing the nature of their relationship. She has repeatedly credited him with helping shape her understanding of music and songwriting, even as she condemned the allegations against him and the people who protected him.
On the show, she made it clear that she believes responsibility extends far beyond Kelly himself.
“I think mothers and people should be held accountable,” she said. “Should Sparkle go to prison? Absolutely."
Sparkle — the Chicago R&B singer who launched her career as one of Kelly’s protégés — publicly denied claims made by her niece, Reshona Landfair.
In Landfair’s new memoir, Who’s Watching Shorty?, she alleges that adults around her failed to protect her and, in some cases, helped give Kelly access to her.
Sparkle responded in a social media statement, saying any suggestion that she “groomed, facilitated, or enabled harm” to her niece is “untrue and deeply painful.” She also said she contacted child welfare authorities when she learned Landfair was spending time alone with Kelly and later testified against him in court.
K. Michelle, however, doubled down on her belief that people around Kelly knew more than they admitted.
"What about all the mothers that was in the kitchen cooking?" she said, recalling comments she made years before Surviving R. Kelly aired. "There were mothers in the kitchen cooking. I’ve never lied."
She also suggested there is much more she could say. “If I talk, everybody is going to jail,” K. Michelle said.
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, confidential help is available. In the U.S., contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit online.rainn.org.
