Grammy winner R. Kelly (centre) has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that includes accusations of bribery and extortion. Kelly's lawyer Nicole Blank Becker rejected prosecutors' claims, saying the accusers' relationships with Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, were consensual. Prosecutors say Kelly used an entourage of managers, bodyguards and others to recruit victims, and threatened to blackmail them if they fled. Later in the trial, prosecutors will try to show that Kelly bribed an Illinois official in 1994 to obtain a fake ID for Aaliyah, who is Jane Doe No. According to prosecutors, Kelly believed he had impregnated Aaliyah, and hoped a marriage would keep her from having to testify against him.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 18, 2021 22:30 UTC