R&B superstar R. Kelly had already been the target of several lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct when he told his then-business manager in December 2000 that police were harassing his teenage goddaughter about whether they’d been having an inappropriate relationship.
The Chicago Tribune reports the business manager, Derrel McDavid, told a federal jury Wednesday that when he asked if the allegation regarding the girl was true, the singer exploded.
“‘Are you out your goddamn mind?’” Kelly said according to McDavid, who puffed out his chest and spoke loudly for effect. “‘This is my goddaughter! Of course there’s no truth to this.’”
McDavid said Kelly was convinced that the girl’s aunt, Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards, and his former personal manager, Barry Hankerson, who each had axes to grind against Kelly, were behind it. Police later interviewed the goddaughter, “Jane,” and her family, who denied it all, he said.
Even after rumors surfaced a year later about a videotape depicting Kelly sexually abusing Jane, McDavid said he believed the singer.
McDavid, who is charged with participating in a wide-ranging cover-up scheme to bury evidence of Kelly sexually abusing underage girls, took the witness stand on the 15th day of trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. His defense hinges in part on his claim that he truly believed Kelly to be innocent at the time of the alleged cover-up, and that he merely followed the advice of more experienced attorneys and investigators.
It’s a rare and risky move for a criminal defendant in federal court, and prosecutors are expected to cross-examine McDavid at length on Thursday.
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