R. Kelly’s world continues to crumble.
As we reported, the embattled singer was jailed on Wednesday for failing to pay his ex-wife Drea Kelly over $161,000 in child support — something that, according to part two of his CBS This Morning interview, the Grammy winner is blaming his ex-wife for.
In Thursday’s airing of his sit-down with Gayle King, Kelly accused Drea of lying about being domestically abused by him in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. He claimed that the lies Drea told on camera are “destroying” his name and making it impossible for him to pay the large sum that he’s legally obligated to pay her to support their three children.
Related: Kelly Being Investigated In Detroit Over Underage Sex Claim
What’s even worse, Kelly claimed, is that he currently has “zero” relationship with his three children: daughter Buku Abi, 20, and sons Jay, 18, and Robert Jr., 16. He cried:
“How can I pay child support if my ex-wife is destroying my name and I can’t work? .. What kind of woman would tear down a dad who’s trying to have a relationship with their kids? You know how many kids need a relationship with their father? Oh my God.“
Hours after the first part of his explosive interview with King aired, the 52-year-old was taken into police custody after appearing at a hearing in Chicago, where authorities say he’ll stay until he comes up with the money owed.
But that might be a problem: Kelly told King he has just $350,000 left in his bank account, due to all the people who have allegedly “been stealin’” from him over the years.
He explained:
“So many people have been stealin’ my money. People was connected to my account. I went into – I went by myself for the first time to a Bank of America. Didn’t know what I was doing. Didn’t know what the hell was going on.”
Kelly also claims the first time he made the solo trip to the bank about three weeks to a month ago, because he “was so tired of not knowin’ where my money was, what my publishing is.”
Video: Part 1 Of Kelly’s Interview With Gayle King Was Insane!
The singer acknowledged that not knowing his financial situation was mostly his fault, but insists that what really cost him were the people who had access to his bank account — not because he’s had to pay out so many settlements to women who claim they were minors when he had sex with them. (Kelly claimed the songs he’s written “can handle settlements and everything else.”)
During his trip to Bank of America, Kelly said he told the bank teller to set up a new account for him that only he had access too. He remembered:
“I had, like, $350,000 in the bank. And I told her, ‘Look, take that. I’m gonna start a new account.’ And that’s where it is, right? So she said, ‘Okay. It’s gonna take six to seven business days to clear.’ Does that make sense?”
Unfortunately for him, the money still hadn’t cleared when he was arrested for alleged criminal sexual abuse of four women last month — which is why a female friend had to pay his $100,000 bail at the time.
Watch the second part of Kelly’s interview (below) to hear him explain everything.
Now, Kelly is back behind bars for the second time in weeks, and some of his accusers are taking advantage of it. According to TMZ, Kelly’s live-in girlfriend Jocelyn Savage will be reunited with her family sometime early next week.
The outlet reports that a new member of Kelly’s team agreed to arrange a face-to-face meetup with Joycelyn, who has repeatedly denied her parents’ claims that she was being held at Kelly’s residence against her will as one of the singer’s “sex slaves.”
The Savages’ family attorney says a specific date hasn’t been locked down yet, but they’re looking to meet on Monday or Tuesday in a neutral city outside of Chicago. If the meeting does go down, the Savages plan to bring a psychologist to evaluate their estranged daughter.
[Image via CBS News]