On the same day Surviving R. Kelly is scheduled to air, a lawyer for the 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer warns the TV network of legal consequences for painting the singer as a sex-crazed and abusive cult leader.
- January 4, 2019
AceShowbiz - R. Kelly's lawyer has fired off a legal warning to bosses of TV channel Lifetime threatening to sue if they go ahead with its documentary "Surviving R. Kelly".
Brian Nix, the lawyer for "The World's Greatest" singer, has sent a legal letter to Lifetime bosses threatening to file a federal lawsuit on Thursday. January 03, the same day the six-hour documentary begins, if they don't pull it from their schedule.
In the letter, obtained by TMZ.com, Nix claims the documentary paints the singer, who has been dogged by claims he coerced women into abusive relationships likened to a "sex cult", as a sex-crazed and abusive cult leader and is full of lies.
More than 50 people have been interviewed for the documentary, including celebrities such as John Legend and Wendy Williams, some of Kelly's accusers, and members of the singer's inner circle who have come forward for the first time with new allegations that Kelly has sexually, mentally and physically abused women, claims he has always denied.
According to TMZ.com, R. Kelly, full name Robert Sylvester Kelly, claims that the subjects have made false allegations to become famous, and he has two audio recordings that prove Lifetime bosses knew "some of the girls are lying, but that the budget was too high to turn back now."
Diane Haughton, the mother of late R&B star Aaliyah, has issued her own statement about allegations made by former back-up performer Jovante Cunningham, who claims she saw Aaliyah having sex with Kelly on a tour bus when she was 15 and he was 27.
"The woman and so-called back up singer that describes seeing, meeting or ever breathing the same air as my daughter, Aaliyah, is lying and is a liar," Haughton said in a statement to E! News. "My husband and I were always on tour with her and at interviews and every place she went throughout her entire career. Whoever this woman is, I have never seen her before anywhere on planet earth, until now."
"Shame on all those involved in this project who thought it kosher to drag Aaliyah's name into a situation that has nothing to do with her today. Once again, this will not be tolerated."
Aaliyah, who passed away in 2001 at the age of 22, had been in a relationship with Kelly who she reportedly married in 1994 when she was underage, before the illegal union was annulled.
