R Kelly prosecutor says singer hid his crimes in ‘plain sight’ as abuse trial nears end
Closing arguments are under way at R Kelly’s abuse trial in New York, after the singer decided not to testify in court.
Warning: This article contains references to alleged sexual assault and abuse.
Kelly vehemently denies racketeering and other charges accusing him of sexually abusing women, girls, and boys during the course of his 30-year-career.
The jury in R Kelly’s abuse trial has been sent out to deliberate. Pic: Reuters
The defence only called a handful of witnesses across two days, compared to the dozens called by the prosecution in the previous weeks of the trial.
Kelly, 54, said on the record he would not testify at his own trial, as is his right, which would have put him in the witness box and available for cross-examination by lawyers.
The prosecution, led by assistant US attorney Elizabeth Geddes, said in closing the government had proved Kelly had told those around him to target, groom and exploit girls, boys and young women for his own sexual gratification.
Six weeks of testimony from more than 45 witnesses and other evidence “showed he did just that”, she said.
Ms Geddes added that Kelly ruled his enablers with an iron fist, meaning he could get away with sexually abusing his victims.
Speaking to the jury, she said that the R&B singer’s assistants, drivers, bodyguards, and others employed by him made up a criminal enterprise, which resulted in the federal racketeering charges against him.
R Kelly listens in as the final closing arguments are made in his trial. Pic: Reuters
“The defendant set rules, lots of them, and he demanded complete obedience,” she said, adding that meant “for many years, what happened in the defendant’s world stayed in the defendant’s world – but no longer”.
Ms Geddes said that Kelly had hid his crimes in “plain sight” by wielding his “money and public persona”.
A lawyer for Kelly is expected to also present a closing argument.
Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Geddes, at the bottom of the drawing, has presented her closing arguments to court. Pic: AP
On Tuesday, artist Da-Ni spoke as a defence witness, and claimed he had known Kelly since 2005, saying he shadowed him in the studio and at concerts, in order to “observe, learn and become.”
He told the court that he had never seen illicit activity by the singer towards the alleged victims.
Other defence witnesses made similar claims, with lawyers attempting to paint the alleged victims as star-struck fans whose relationships with Kelly did not work out.
Among the claims made by prosecution witnesses were that he gave a 17-year-old girl herpes “on purpose”, and that he sexually abused a teenage boy after asking him what he was willing to do to get into the music industry.
Kelly was also accused in court of marrying the singer Aaliyah when she was just 15, with claims that a former manager obtained a fake ID to make the wedding happen.
The trial continues.
Tupac Shakur’s estate has threatened to sue Drake and ordered him to delete a track featuring an AI-generated copy of the late rapper’s voice.
Drake released the song Taylor Made Freestyle – a diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar – on his Instagram page on Friday, which features verses created by AI software mimicking both Shakur and Snoop Dogg.
In a cease-and-desist letter seen by Sky News’ US partner NBC News, Howard King, an attorney who represents Shakur’s estate, requested that Drake remove the track from all platforms where it is publicly available.
The letter sent on Wednesday states the Canadian rapper has until midday on Thursday to confirm he will remove it or the estate will “pursue all of its legal remedies” against him.
“Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time,” Mr King wrote.
“The estate would never have given its approval for this use.”
The letter also outlines the estate’s “dismay” regarding the topic of the track, saying Lamar is “a good friend to the estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately” and that this “compounds the insult”.
In the track, the AI-generated voice of Shakur urges Lamar to respond to Drake’s previous diss track about him released several days prior, saying lines like: “Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast saviour / You seem a little nervous about all the publicity / You asked for the smoke, now it seem you too busy for the smoke.”
Tupac was killed in 1996. Pic: Walik Goshorn/MediaPunch/IPx/AP
The letter claims the track and its popularity have created the “false impression that the estate and Tupac promote or endorse the lyrics for the sound-alike”.
Shakur’s estate is also seeking damages including all profits from the record, which has so far only been posted on Drake’s Instagram page, as well as additional damages for substantial economic and reputational harm caused.
Read more:
Musicians react to AI songs flooding the internet
J Cole: I feel ‘terrible’ about Kendrick Lamar diss track
The letter claimed Drake’s non-consensual use of Shakur’s likeness violates Shakur’s right to publicity, an intellectual property right protecting against the misappropriation of somebody’s name or image.
Sky News has contacted representatives of Drake for comment.
The AI-generated voice of prominent rapper Snoop Dogg was also used on the track.
Snoop Dogg posted a video on his Instagram story shortly after the diss track was posted, where he said: “They did what? When? How… What’s going on… I’m going back to bed.”
The use of AI in the music industry has been the subject of heavy debate since last year, when Drake’s own voice was cloned alongside The Weeknd by the artist known as Ghostwriter.
The track was taken down from all platforms shorty after it was released in April.
Richard Gadd has urged fans of his hit show Baby Reindeer to stop speculating about who the characters in his show are based on in real life.
The Netflix series is based on the real-life story of its writer Gadd, who also plays the lead character, and his warped relationship with a female stalker.
Fans have been speculating online about the identity of the stalker played by Jessica Gunning in real life (spoiler warning), as well as who another character, seen sexually assaulting Gadd in the series, is based on.
The character, played by Tom Goodman-Hill, is a TV writer who repeatedly sexually assaults Gadd’s character and supplies him with drugs.
Gadd addressed his fans on his Instagram story on Tuesday, saying: “People I love, have worked with, and admire… are unfairly getting caught up in speculation.
“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard.”
Read more on Sky News:
Richard Osman reveals Thursday Murder Club cast
Police launch manhunt for Home and Away star
Pic: Netflix
The show is based on the hit Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage play Gadd performed in 2019.
Gadd, who plays Donny Dunn, a character based on himself, said he didn’t expect the show to “blow up” in the way it has since its release on 11 April.
“I’m super proud of it. I really believed in this show, but the fact it’s gone so stratospheric so quickly, for such a cult, quite niche story… it’s kind of amazing. It’s clearly struck a chord,” he said on This Morning.
The writer, actor and comedian is also an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a charity which supports male survivors of sexual abuse.
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