R. Kelly threatened his accuser and retaliated by posting photos, Gloria Allred says
High-powered attorney Gloria Allred announced Monday that she was representing several of R. Kelly's alleged victims and had proof of the singer's retaliation and intimidation tactics against one accuser, Faith Rodgers.
Allred was joined at the New York City presser by Faith Rodgers and her mother, Kelly Rodgers; Rodgers’ attorney Lydia C. Hills; and Michelle Kramer, the mother of another one of R. Kelly's alleged victims, Dominique Gardner.
In May 2018, Rodgers filed a lawsuit against Kelly in New York for alleged sexual battery, false imprisonment and "willfully, deliberately and maliciously" infecting her with an STD. Allred alleged that Kelly responded to the suit by posting private photos of Rodgers without her consent on social media and sending a letter to Hills threatening to reveal his and Rodgers' personal correspondence and to provide witnesses to speak about Rodgers' sexual activity.
"In response to Faith's lawsuit, Kelly retaliated against her by threatening to reveal what he alleges are details of her sex life," Allred said. "In addition, he posted private photos of her. One threat was contained in a letter Mr. Kelly wrote to Lydia Hills, an attorney for Ms. Rodgers, as follows: 'If she persists in court actions, she will be subject to public opinion during the discovery process. For example, my law team is prepared to request a production of the medical test results proving the origin of her STD claim, as well as 10 male witnesses testifying under oath about her sex life (and) complete records of her texts and FaceTime exchanges."
The private photos were shared on a Facebook page called "Surviving Lies," which Allred alleged was created by Kelly's camp to discredit his accusers in response to the "Surviving R. Kelly" Lifetime documentary. The page was deleted several hours after it was created, Allred said, after photos of Rodgers and one other unnamed Kelly accuser were posted without their consent.
“It seems that Mr. Kelly is taking his playbook from Donald Trump, who threatened to sue the women who came forward during the campaign to speak about his behavior towards them," Allred said. "In fact, although it may be a coincidence, Mr. Kelly was recently confronted by the police at Trump Tower in Chicago where he was residing.”
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Allred also revealed that she is representing another Kelly accuser who was underage when she and Kelly first met, though she declined to share any other information about her client. Rodgers was 19 when she first met Kelly, though Allred alleged that "whether or not someone was an adult is irrelevant if, in fact, that person has evidence that they were abused."
While Kelly has never been found guilty of a crime, the "Surviving R. Kelly" documentary has ignited new interest in pursuing legal action against him. During the press conference, Allred said she, Hill and Rodgers would be speaking with New York Police Department investigators later Monday about Rodgers' case.
In Kelly's hometown of Chicago, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx called a news conference last week to say she was "sickened" by the “deeply disturbing” allegations against the 52-year-old singer and urged anyone with information about alleged sexual abuse by Kelly in Cook County to talk to prosecutors.
In a phone interview with The Associated Press following Foxx's press conference, Kelly's Chicago attorney, Steve Greenberg, dismissed the allegations as "another round of stories" being used to "fill reality TV time."
USA TODAY has contacted Kelly's representatives for comment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: R. Kelly threatened his accuser and retaliated by posting photos, Gloria Allred says
