The sequel to the the Lifetime docuseries, "Surviving R. Kelly" premiered this weekend, and with it, tons more accounts of the singer's sexual abuse over the years has come to light. Like the first part, "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" has allowed Kelly's alleged victims to come forward and tell their stories. However, not everyone seems to pleased to hear it, especially Kelly's current girlfriend, Azriel Clary.
Azriel has been very public about her love and support for Kelly, and it appears she was not too pleased about the sequel to the series that aims to expose the severity of his sex crimes. Hours before the first episode of "Part II" aired on January 2nd, Azriel took to Twitter with a cryptic message.
"The quiet before the storm," she wrote, seemingly preparing herself for all the inevitable fallout from the series. The following night, she reminds herself to stay calm while her boyfriend's alleged abuse is exposed.
"The main thing is don't panic," she tells herself. Though it's quite clear what she's referring to, these tweets are still very vague in terms of offering specifics. However, on Friday evening, Azriel elaborated a little more on where her head is at, revealing that she is still unwavered by all of the talk and that she will be offering up her own side of the story very soon.
"FUN FACT: I love to make people eat their words. So buckle up, because it’s about to be a lot of that very soon. I woke up feeling good and actually laughing at all that I see," her tweet reads. She followed this up with, "Nothing kills a hater more than silence & success. ?" She proceeds to pray for her family, writing "God, give me and my family strength," though it's unclear which family she is referring to. While these tweets seem to be suggesting that she plans to prove everyone wrong about R. Kelly, her following tweets complicate this a little bit.
On Saturday, Azriel stated that "I woke up feeling amazing, I had to humble myself and swallow my pride. The hardest thing is admitting.. but the greatest things comes out of admitting. I am sorry for jumping into a battle that is bigger than me. I do have good news for all of those that support me," followed by a "coming soon" hashtag. She then said, "Only I can right my wrongs, and that’s what I’m going to do. I hope y’all ready." Azriel's choice of words when apologizing for "jumping into a battle that is bigger than" her suggests that what's "coming soon" may not be a defense of Kelly but perhaps some kind of admittance of her blind support for him, as an attempt to "right" the "wrongs."
R. Kelly’s Ex-Wife & Brothers Claim He Was Molested As A Child
This new was revealed on “Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning”
“Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning,” the sequel to the docuseries, “Surviving R. Kelly” that premiered on Lifetime last year, has arrived, and plenty has been revealed about the singer’s alleged sexual abuse. The first series premiered last January, and played a huge role in Kelly’s following arrest for allegations of sexual abuse that have been around for decades. Both the first and second parts of “Surviving R. Kelly” centre the victims and their stories, allowing them to give their own personal accounts of the abuse they claim to have faced at the hands of R. Kelly, but there are also some stories told by those who were part of Kelly’s inner circle, including his brothers.
On the premiere episode of “The Reckoning,” Kelly’s brother, Carey and Bruce, described a situation in which they were exposed to a grown man’s genitals when they were kids. The Kelly brothers had a neighbour named Mr. Henry, who became “increasingly sexual with them over time.” In one instance, he walked around half-naked in front of them and pulled his penis out. As the three brothers ran out of the house, Mr. Henry told them no to tell anyone. R. Kelly’s ex-wife, Andrea Kelly, confirms this story, saying that her ex-husband has confided in her about similar instances of assault in the past.
While this awful situation happened to all three brothers, Carey and Bruce claimed that Mr. Henry tried more “inappropriate things” with R. Kelly, before their mother found out and called the police. The neighbourhood gave Mr. Henry a punitive beating after word spread about his abuse, but Mr. Henry eventually bribed the Kelly brothers’ mother with $5,000 if she agreed not to go to court, which she accepted. The brothers also indicate that Kelly was molested by a female family member years later, which Kelly has attested to as well. They said this childhood sexual abuse changed him forever. While tragic, this of course does not excuse Kelly for the abuse he’s been accused of perpetrating himself for decades.
Dame Dash Says Aaliyah "Was Happy To Be Away" From R. Kelly After Marriage Ended
He also couldn't believe there wasn't more outrage about their union.
Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning hasn't even aired yet and it's already shaping up to be more controversial than the first series. As disgraced singer R. Kelly sits in jail as a number of state and federal cases are being prepared against him, Lifetime has been speaking to those who claimed to have been in Kelly's inner circle. On Surviving R. Kelly, producers chatted with a number of women who claimed to have been victimized by Kelly over the years, including his ex-wife Drea Kelly. For this second go-round with The Reckoning, Drea doesn't want her name or likeness affiliated with the documentary.
"I'm not happy with the aftercare and how the victims and survivors were handled throughout this entire process," she's stated. "They have a lawsuit coming their way because I told them, I vehemently—I will not, will not be apart of, in any shape, form or fashion... I will not put my name on this documentary."
Now, TMZ claims they have a clip from the forthcoming series that features Dame Dash. Kelly's former tour manager has recently stated that he helped the late Aaliyah obtain a fake ID when she was just 15-years-old so that she could marry Kelly. The singer was 27-years-old when he and Aaliyah exchanged vows in a hotel back in 1994. In December 2019, it was reported that Kelly would face charges of bribery in connection with receiving Aaliyah's false identification.
Dame reportedly told The Reckoning producers that his former girlfriend was just happy to be rid of Kelly after their marriage was annulled. "Aaliyah was like, the sacrificial lamb for all that 'cause she didn't deserve none of that," Dame said. "Good soul. Good girl and wasn't even so resentful like, let that man live but just keep him the f*ck away from me. That's all she wanted. She was just happy to be away."
"And you know, I know the whole story," Dame added. "You know what I'm sayin'? I know it was the cover-up and all of that. But how did that cover it up? It just made the conversation, 'Oh, he married a child?' So how you still—that was a headline! That was like, a rumor. That was something talked about like it was normal. It wasn't like, 'Ew disgusting, you married a 13-year-old.' It was like, 'Oh, he married Aaliyah?' She's 13!" The interviewer corrects him and stated Aaliyah was 15 at the time of her marriage to Kelly. Dame said to him it's the same thing, but the interviewer replied he just wanted to make sure the music mogul was accurate.
"I don't have to be accurate 'cause I don't care," Dame said. "Fifteen, thirteen, anything under eighteen is disgusting, you know what I mean?That's still a child." Click here to watch the clip.