When Gayle King sat down with R. Kelly and his girlfriends, Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, back in March, many were left unsettled by Clary and Savage’s defence of Kelly amid numerous sexual abuse allegations and charges against him. Now, Savage is speaking out against the singer for the first time, and saying she is a "victim.”
“Things I am going to reveal that was sweared [sic] not to see the day of light — by NDA. I am risking my life for many others,” Savage wrote in an Instagram post, announcing that she’d be posting daily “chapters” of her story on Patreon, the crowdfunding membership platform.
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In her first “chapter,” Savage detailed meeting Kelly back in 2015 at one of his concerts, reports The Hollywood Reporter. She described the experience as a “fun experience but very mixed emotions,” and noted that after listening to her music he told her she would be the “next Aaliyah.”
But after a few months of living with Kelly and having “everything I needed,” Savage says things changed.
"Robert started giving me commands, and making sure I call him by certain names. Like 'Master' or 'Daddy' which I didn’t really care for at the time,” she wrote. “If I wasn’t getting paid or pursuing my dream I would’ve went home, but all of that didn’t stop just yet. But it started getting worse day by day, he would raise his voice at me if I didn’t call him by those two names. If Robert called me I would have to reply with 'Yes, daddy' or 'Please daddy' he was so controlling."
Previously, Savage denied that anything sinister was happening with Kelly and refuted claims by her parents that she had been brainwashed by the singer.
"You guys are believing some fucking facade that our parents are saying...If you can't see that, you're ignorant and you're stupid," Savage said through tears during the interview with King on CBS This Morning.
Likely foreseeing questions about why she decided to come forward now, Savage posted another message on her Instagram saying that there was something she needed to reveal that she “should’ve talked about a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry,” she wrote in the caption of the post. Refinery29 has reached out to Kelly’s representatives for comment. Kelly has, so far, denied all of the other allegations against him.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.