Life

Woman suing R. Kelly says singer threatened her

January 16, 2019
Faith Rodgers reads a statement to reporters with attorney Gloria Allred during a news conference regarding allegations of sexual misconduct relating to musician R Kelly, in New York, January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon
Faith Rodgers reads a statement to reporters with attorney Gloria Allred during a news conference regarding allegations of sexual misconduct relating to musician R Kelly, in New York, January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

NEW YORK — A woman who sued R. Kelly accusing the American R&B star of sexual battery, knowingly infecting her with a sexually transmitted disease, and false imprisonment says he has threatened her.

High-profile women's rights attorney Gloria Allred told reporters on Monday that her client Faith Rodgers, 20, faced "efforts to intimidate and retaliate" from Kelly after she filed the lawsuit now pending in New York's Supreme Court.

And just after Rodgers testified in the documentary "Surviving R. Kelly" that aired this month, her lawyers say Kelly, 51, and his team created a Facebook page — which the social media giant removed within hours — in an effort to discredit his accusers including Rodgers, posting "private" photos of her.

Rodgers' team also said Kelly wrote to her attorney Lydia Hills saying he was prepared to demand medical evidence to support her claim about the STD and that he would challenge her version of events by putting up male witnesses who would testify under oath about her sex life.

R. Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, told AFP the letter allegedly sent by the singer was "a complete fabrication." Rodgers filed the lawsuit in May, slightly over a year after she says she met the singer -- known for hits including "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Ignition" -- following a concert in San Antonio, Texas.

She says Kelly initiated "non-permissive, painful and abusive sex" and failed to inform her he had the incurable virus herpes, which she says she then contracted. "Taking a stand against R. Kelly, someone who has been termed 'the King of R&B' and is loved by many has not been easy," Rodgers said Monday. — AFP


January 16, 2019
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