Aspiring R&B singer says R Kelly told her he needed to relieve himself sexually before audition
Aspiring R&B singer testifies R Kelly told her he needed to relieve himself sexually before he could hear her sing after luring her to his hotel: Sobbing witness tells jury star gave her herpes when she was 17
R Kelly accuser known as ‘Jane Doe 5’ or ‘Zel’ testified on Monday that in 2015, when she was 17, he pressured her into oral sex at Orlando hotel‘Zel’, now 23, said Kelly gave her herpes and then mocked her for it, even as virus outbreaks left her in severe pain and unable to walk Woman eventually moved in with Kelly and stayed with him for five years ‘Zel’ testified on the fourth day of Kelly’s federal racketeering trialKelly, 54, has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment describing his alleged abuse of six women and girls, including the late singer AaliyahHe faces additional charges in Illinois and Minnesota
R Kelly’s former girlfriend-turned-accuser testified at his federal racketeering trial in New York on Monday that when she was just 17 years old, the R&B star agreed to audition her in his hotel room if she offered him sexual relief.
‘I just wanted to sing,’ said the witness for the prosecution, who identified herself by the pseudonym ‘Zel.’
DailyMail.com is not revealing the accuser’s real name because she claims to be the victim of sexual misconduct. She was named in Kelly’s indictment as ‘Jane Doe No 5.’
The woman broke down in sobs when she also claimed that she contracted herpes after having sex with Kelly. She said he hadn’t disclosed he had a sexually transmitted disease.
‘Zel,’ now 23, told the jury in Federal District Court in Brooklyn that during that initial encounter in Orlando in 2015, Kelly ended up performing oral sex on her, even though she said she had told the I Believe I Can Fly singer she was against it.
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R Kelly accuser ‘Jane Doe No 5,’ also known as ‘Zel,’ wipes tears while testifying against the singer at his federal racketeering trial in Brooklyn on Monday
‘Zel,’ now 23 and a singer, told the court Kelly *pressured her into having oral sex when he came to his hotel room for an audition in 2015
‘I told him I did not come to please him, I came for an audition,’ the witness said from the stand. But she said Kelly was persistent, saying if he could perform oral sex he would ‘allow me to audition and take care of me for life.’
‘Zel’ was 17 years old at the time but lied to Kelly that she was 18, according to her testimony, reported the New York Times.
Prosecutors have said Kelly had sex multiple times with ‘Zel’ in 2015, when he was 48, and didn’t tell her before getting consent that he had contracted herpes.
‘Zel’ testified on the fourth day of Kelly’s racketeering trial in Brooklyn.
Kelly, now 54, has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment describing his alleged abuse of six women and girls, including the late singer Aaliyah.
The federal trial is expected to last several weeks, and Kelly could face life in prison if convicted.
Kelly also faces sex-related criminal charges in Illinois and Minnesota. Many accusations of sex-related misconduct were discussed in the 2019 Lifetime documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly.’
‘Zel’ testified that she met Kelly in 2015 at an Orlando festival, where the singer had paid ‘a lot of attention’ to her during his performance and had a staffer pass a note to her with his phone number written on it.
She said she hoped he could advance her career, and agreed in a Facetime call to meet at the Dolphin Hotel in Orlando.
Once there, ‘Zel’ said Kelly gave her a ‘small pop kiss’ — his term — and took her to his room, where he allegedly convinced her to undress and walk back and forth in the nude, before performing oral sex on her.
‘I didn’t necessarily care for that,’ she told the court. ‘I just wanted to sing.’
She said the sex was interrupted by a knock from police looking for her because her parents couldn’t find her, and that a worried Kelly told her to tell police she was 18.
‘Zel’ said the police looked at her ID card, which had her real age of 17, but took no action and left, after offering their security services to Kelly next time he was in town. Kelly then resumed having oral sex.
‘He did allow me to sing,’ ‘Zel’ said. ‘He seemed very impressed.’
The teen soon began traveling to Kelly’s performances at his expense. She said the singer told her how to dress, instructed her to call him ‘Daddy’ and expected her to seek him permission before making any move, reported the New York Daily News.
Last week, a jury heard similar testimony from the trial’s first witness, who described being a 16-year-old virgin when Kelly began sexually exploiting her in 2010. Both women claimed they were forced to call him ‘Daddy’ and follow his draconian rules restricting how they could dress, who they could speak with and when they could use the bathroom.
Less than a month into their relationship, ‘Zel’ said she had a sexual intercourse with Kelly for the first time and contracted herpes from him, which she said he had not told her he had.
‘I felt this man had purposely given me something he knew he had… He was agitated and said I could have gotten that from anyone,’ the woman told the jury through tears, noting that she had not had sex with anyone else.
‘Zel’ said the virus would cause painful outbreaks after sexual encounters, prompting Kelly to mockingly remark: ‘I think your p***y is broken,’ according to her testimony.
Ex-tour manager Demetrius Smith (left) had testified on Friday that Kelly, fearing he had gotten Aaliyah pregnant, paid a $500 bribe in 1994 in order to get fake ID so he could marry her
R. Kelly pictured here with Aaliyah from the ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Lifetime documentary
‘It got to the point where I couldn’t even physically walk,’ she added, as The Daily Beast reported.
They were regularly having sex, with Kelly nearly always videotaping the encounters, she said.
‘Zel’ said when she confessed to Kelly that she was 17, he slapped her across the face with an open palm, but then invited her to live with him and be homeschooled in Chicago, where she remained for the next five years.
The jury was shown notes she wrote to herself about how to stay in line with his rules when she was around him.
‘Tell Daddy everything,’ she had written.
Earlier on Monday, Kelly’s lawyer Deveraux Cannick tried to discredit another prosecution witness.
Former tour manager Demetrius Smith had testified on Friday that Kelly, fearing he had gotten Aaliyah pregnant, paid a $500 bribe in 1994 in order to get fake ID so he could marry the then-15-year-old Aaliyah.
Asked if Kelly ‘had anything to do with you bribing anyone’ for a marriage license, Smith said ‘No, he didn’t.’
Speaking of the marriage, Smith told the court on Monday: ‘It shouldn’t have happened. It was wrong.’
Kelly is charged in the bribery scheme as part of the broader racketeering case accusing him of sexually abusing several women, girls and boys during the course of his 30-year singing career. He’s vehemently denied the charges, claiming that the women were groupies who wanted to take advantage of his fame and fortune.
Forced to testify against his will after being given immunity from future charges, Smith repeatedly told the judge on Friday he was uneasy about taking the stand, though he did not give a specific reason.
But with prodding from the judge, he detailed how the singer came to him while he was on a 1994 tour and told him, ‘Aaliyah is in trouble. We need to get home.’
Kelly, 54, has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment describing his alleged abuse of six women and girls, including the late singer Aaliyah
They rushed back to Chicago after a concert in another city so they could arrange the marriage meant ‘to protect him and Aaliyah,’ Smith said. He said he told Kelly, ‘I know how to get her an ID,’ and that’s what I did.’
Earlier Friday, another former Kelly employee, Anthony Navarro, was called by the government to describe the inner workings of the Chicago-area mansion where Kelly had a recording studio and a constant stream of female visitors.
Being at the mansion ‘was almost like the Twilight Zone,’ Navarro said. ‘It’s just a strange place.’
Navarro’s testimony bolstered the government’s contention that Kelly controlled everything around him and created an environment where girls and women who entered the space faced strict rules that gave them little choice but to submit to the singer’s sexual whims.
Navarro told jurors that he never witnessed Kelly sexually abuse his victims. But there were ‘girls’ who would stay at his home for long stretches and couldn’t eat or depart without Kelly’s permission, he said
‘There’s been times where they wanted to (leave) but couldn’t because they couldn’t get a ride or we couldn’t get ahold of Rob’ to get approval, he said.
Navarro, who was trained as an audio engineer, spent much of his time doing menial chores for Kelly like driving visitors to and from his home.
‘Mainly it was girls who were coming to the studio,’ he said.
