When it comes to her education, the musician only completed high school. Various charges were made against him. You don't tell me what to do and what to wear and where to go and how long to be in a room anymore,' she added. She says she fled for good in December 2019 amid Kelly being arrested. When the New York trial against R. Kelly commenced in August 2021, Azriel Clary was one of the prime witnesses against him. Reporters and spectators wait in line outside the federal courthouse in Brooklyn for opening statements on Aug. 18, 2021, in R&B star R. Kelly's long-anticipated federal trial in New York arising from years of allegations that he sexually abused women and girls. Clary was one of the many women that Kelly pulled into his decades-long operation of sexual abuse and . Sorry I'm long winded, working on it! I feel like aside from music, [therapy sessions were] able to help me break down a lot of barriers,she said. I'm fighting for my f------ life. (Mary Altaffer / AP). Azriel Clary has made another shocking claim about her relationship with R. Kelly. Ultimately, she contracted herpes, she said. Robs rules, Pace testified. Azriel Clary leaves after a hearing in the racketeering and sex trafficking case of R. Kelly at Brooklyn federal court on Aug. 2, 2019, in New York. Get TMZ breaking news sent right to your browser! Prosecutors allege it was part of a decadeslong operation that leveraged Kellys outsize fame to target young victims, groom them, abuse them, and manipulate or blackmail them to keep them under his control. Get seen by EAL PEOPLE! Initially, Azriel Clary stuck by R. Kelly 's through sex trafficking claims against him. Pace said she did not recall how many times they were together in Olympia Fields, but it was always at his bidding, and when she was there she had to follow his rules.. The first on the stand, Jerhonda Pace, testified last week following opening statements. The proverbial word groupie is an understatement, youll see, when it comes to (her) Shes going to claim she had this magnificent relationship with Mr. Kelly until it was time to write a book.. Kelly was sentenced for some of his misdeeds Monday, when a federal jury found him guilty following a six-week trial featuring lurid testimony from 50 witnesses. No one got to see that side of me,' Clary added as she fought back tears. The overflow room for the press was crammed with reporters, who watched the livestreamed proceedings on television monitors. 'Surviving R. Kelly,' a six-part mini-series that featured deeply-personal interviews with victims, including his ex-wife Andrea Kelly, who said she was abused throughout their 13-year marriage. Many of his accusers shared stories echoing that tone, saying they met the singerat concerts or mall performances, and were handed slips of paper with Kelly's contact by his entourage. Jurors said they couldnt be certain the girl was underage. despite what her family describes as attempts to scare. Why am I exploiting myself for a man who has me in this position in the first place? And I really had to come to terms and, you know, realize that it wasnt love. Some rules included calling Kelly daddy, having intercourse on-demand, and not making eye contact with other men. R. Kelly's attorney Nicole Becker is surrounded by reporters as she arrives at the Brooklyn federal court for opening statements in the R&B star's long-anticipated federal trial on Aug. 18, 2021, in New York. That is not who she is. A teaser clip of a documentary produced by ASIS Entertainment Networks. Doe, now 23, testified anonymously Monday in the R&B singers sexual abuse trial, describing harrowing sexual, physical and mental abuse she says she experienced during their five-year relationship. You are never too old to wake up and say, Hey, I thought this was good for me, but its actually not, she says of speaking out against Kelly. Azriel Clary was one of the two women who defended R. Kelly following accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation. This man purposely gave me something he knew he had had, that he could have controlled, Clary stated on the stand. Prosecutors hope to show that Kelly and his entourage acted like a criminal enterprise, using the singers fame and power to recruit underage girls and boys so that Kelly could sexually and physically abuse them. In the 2019 interview with King, Clary and another woman, Joycelyn Savage, said they were Kelly's "girlfriends" and claimed that he wasn't abusive toward them. 'He was very good at manipulating the situation,' Clary said. She reflected on an earlier interview with King in 2019, too, citing it as a turning point in her decision to dissociate from Kelly for good. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 5 is one of six Jane Does whose stories will be used as evidence in Kellys trial. She recalled an incident she also shared with the U.S. Sun in January 2020. 'He gave them a lavish lifestyle,' he said. Kelly's attorney didn't immediately reply to an email and a phone call about the interview Thursday. He also noted that the accusers also known as Kelly's girlfriends maintained a relationship with him because he spoiled them with travel, shopping sprees and five-star dining and other luxuries. 5 took the stand Monday, testifying she endured harrowing sexual, physical and mental abuse starting when she was 17. Kelly and Pace had sexual contact beginning in 2009 when Pace was just 16, she said under oath from the Brooklyn federal courthouse. Even scarier Azriel's car was set on fire last year, and just months ago a man pled guilty in the case. Azriel actually claims this is the reason she, as well as Joycelyn Savage, who is still Kellys girlfriend, nationally defended him during a 2019 interview with CBS Gayle King, only for it to be a blessing. As of now, we're told it looks like Azriel will testify in court sometime next week, and when she does Angelo says he'll be in the courtroom to support her. As a result of Clary's story being discussed in the series Surviving with R Kelly, she gained wide attention and was eventually featured on the CBS This Morning show. The charges were based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls - and keep them obedient and quiet - amounted to a criminal enterprise. Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of sexual abuse. The now 24-year-old said, Whether its snowing, raining, storming, he didnt care, just go up there and wave to him every day at four oclock [through the jail window]. She eventually did get pregnant in 2017, and Kelly forced her to get an abortion. Clary told Gayle King in 2021 that Kelly told her to fake anger during her 2019 interview. All commentary is Alleged*** Hawkins was 15 when she began having sex with then-24-year-old Kelly in 1991, she said in a court document. 'You know it's interesting 'cause your dad called me after and said: "That is not my daughter. Aaliyah, the now-deceased R&B ingenue whom Kelly allegedly married because she thought she was pregnant at just 15, is at the center of an accusation that an associate of Kelly bribed an official to get a phony ID showing she was 18. Kelly still faces more federal and state-level charges in Illinois, plus state-level charges in Minnesota. The Daily Beast experiences Clary's new testimony concerning the 5-12 months relationship she claims was riddled with sexual, verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. According to Clary, Kelly was triumphant after her interview, telling Clary and Savage they did amazing.. : https://embracepangaea.grsm.io/whitneyturner8901FASHION NOVA:https://share.fashionnova.com/x/WzF3wKMY SECOND CHANNEL! I was against it, Doe told prosecutors. And repeatedly, she referred to the witnesses as girls before correcting herself to women, a fraught mistake in a trial that involves repeated allegations of sex with minors. Yet, her familys unwavering support, music, therapy, and sharing her story with the world have admittedly helped her a lot. She had told him she was 19, but after their first sexual contact she felt uncomfortable and showed him her state ID card proving her true age. "It kind of made me kind of wake up in a sense, and realize, 'Why am I acting like this? Its not illegal, ladies and gentlemen., At great length, she defended the use of the word Daddy., Daddy has now become equivalent to the worst word you could ever think of. He was in 2008 acquitted of 18 child pornography charges stemming from a 27-minute sex tape after the girl refused to testify. Clarys desire to make it in the music industry inadvertently drew her into Kellys web. And if he didnt like our answers, he would tell us exactly what to say and how to say it., She said Kelly barred them from talking about anything sexual. The women wore baggy clothes because they didnt want to attract harassment at Kellys concerts, and they urinated in cups not because they were denied permission to use the bathroom but because they were often on long tour trips in a van without a restroom, Becker said. I think your pussy is broken, Doe said Kelly taunted her at the time. It is unclear who she was talking to but the video's description mentions Azriel speaking to a Federal Agent. Months later, she says she began experiencing severe abdominal and vaginal pain during intercourse, so bad to the point that she says she couldnt walk. We broke the story in early 2020 -- after a falling out with Kelly's other girlfriend at the time, Joycelyn Savage -- Azriel fully removed herself from Kelly's corner and began working with the feds against him. Sonja was a 22-year-old radio intern near Salt Lake City who flew to Chicago in hopes of an interview; instead she was confined to a room in Kellys studio for three days straight, then fell immediately asleep after drinking a warm Coke his associate handed her, Melendez said. Azriel Clary: Where is the Survivor Now? It was the beginning of the end for Kelly, who was soon hit with more sexual assault-related charges in other states after getting away with it for decades. "This is not me. In an exclusive interview, @gayleking speaks with Azriel Clary, one of the R. Kelly survivors who testified against him in court. [Music] was one of the biggest tools that helped me find myself again, Azriel told Revolt. Clary, 23, was one of the women who lived with Kelly at his home in Chicago. He is facing several charges, including sexual exploitation of children, racketeering based on kidnapping and forced labor. Kelly wanted her to have an abortion, she said, but not just because she was under the legal age of consent. Azriel Clary was a victim of sexual abuse at an early age. In her 2019 interview with Gayle King, Azriel criticized her parents. gave emotional testimony at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse and discussed in detail the abuse she says she endured at the hands of the R&B singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly. Contact Tasneem Nashrulla at tasneem.nashrulla@buzzfeed.com. R. Kelly accuser Azriel Clary said the singer manipulated and threatened her and coached her on how to act in an emotional interview Thursday with "CBS Mornings. I had to realize that this was actually abnormal.'. "It was very disturbing to have to relive those moments," Clary, 23, told Gayle King in a CBS Mornings interview that aired Thursday. How Scary Is It? ", In an exclusive interview, @gayleking speaks with Azriel Clary, one of the R. Kelly survivors who testified against him in court.You are never too old to wake up and say, Hey, I thought this was good for me, but its actually not, she says of speaking out against Kelly. A few times, Becker praised Kellys mental acuity, his work ethic, his adoring fans and his beautiful music until she had to stop when prosecutors objected or Donnelly called for a sidebar. She plans to release her debut EP,Eat Your Heart Out, in summer 2022. She explained: Nobody knows who Azriel is. Clary said she normalized the abuse because she saw other, older women, plus Kelly's assistants, workers and security team, experiencing the same and not speaking up. Doe said Kelly made her have sex with several other women during their relationship and often collected collateral on her like recording a video of her lying and saying her father molested her so she was unable to leave the singer. AZRIEL CLARY TESTIMONY Day 1 TRANSCRIPT (Pages 940-975) READING LIVE! When prosecutors asked her if she remembered her last day in the Olympia Fields home, her voice grew quiet. Hes pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his legal team didnt show up for an initial court date in Minneapolis in 2019. ", Clary, 23, was one of the women who lived with Kelly at his home in Chicago. The singer faces eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking minors across state lines for the purpose of prostitution, and one count of racketeering. Related: R. Kellys Ex-Girlfriend Azriel Clary Is Calling Him Out On Social Media For Continuing To Request Early Release From Prison. AZRIEL CLARY TESTIMONY Day 1 TRANSCRIPT (Pages 940-975) READING LIVE!Sorry Im long winded, working on it! In the 2019 interview, Clary accused her own parents of introducing her to Kelly and telling her to lie about her age she was only 17 at the time and then blackmailing the singer. KEEP YA YONI FRESH LADIES! It is all about finding your tribe and people that actually want to uplift you and your craft.. You guys are believing this f***ing faade that our parents are saying. Azriel Clary recounts studying she contracted Herpes from R. Kelly and was forced to abort their child. The acts presented during disturbing testimony included bribery, kidnapping, forced labor rape, druggings, imprisonment and child pornography. The singer faces eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking minors across state lines for the purpose of prostitution, and one count of racketeering. Azriel toldHuffPosther experience with Kelly allowed her to reset and appreciate the value of music in her life. Why am I exploiting myself for a man who has me in this position in the first place, you know?' (witnesses will) tell you all these negative things, theyre going to form a picture that basically Mr. Kelly is this monster.. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. In the wake of the Brooklyn verdict, the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana rescinded the key to the city honor awarded to Kelly in 2013. Across the hall was a similar room for spectators, including family members of Joycelyn Savage, who have long alleged Kelly abused their daughter and held her under his control. She. All rights reserved. Azriel Clary is the disgraced singer's ex-girlfriend, and she allegedly lived with him from 17 to her early 20s. Shannon Thaler For Dailymail.Com, R Kelly's victims were finally freed to testify against him after Brooklyn judge overturned NDAs which paid them up to $1.5M each for their silence, R Kelly, 54, faces 100 years in prison after he is found GUILTY of all nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering: R&B star recruited and sexually abused women, girls and boys over three decades. He faces decades in prison. Azriel Clary testimony video After Clary's 2019 interview with CBS News, her father told Gayle King: "That is not my daughter.