R Kelly appeals to overturn 30-year sex crime sentence

Published

1 year ago

March 18, 2024

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R Kelly has appealed to a New York court to overturn a 30-year racketeering sentence, served to him in 2022.

The R&B singer – whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly – was found guilty of racketeering and trafficking following a high-profile trial in New York in 2021.

It followed years of accusations throughout his career.

He was served an additional year in prison on charges relating to indecent images of children and child enticement in Chicago last year.

Kelly – who was not present at the appeal – alleges that prosecutors failed to prove their racketeering claim or that he violated several women.

He also says he was denied a fair trial because several jurors prejudged his guilt, his lawyer provided ineffective counsel, and the jury was “swamped” by excessive evidence of other alleged bad acts.

Kelly was defended in the appeal hearing by lawyer Jennifer Bonjean, who began by disputing the definition of a RICO enterprise (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) and whether there has to be anything inherently illegal about such an organisation.

Speaking about Kelly’s team of staff, and whether they were aware of “what happened behind closed doors,” she said that while “there were rules and things, [the staff] did these anodyne tasks that were perhaps a little unusual, but not that put them on notice that what was happening behind closed doors was illegal”.

When asked about staff’s specific knowledge of the age of girls recruited to come and see Kelly backstage, Ms Bonjean said: “I do not believe there was any evidence that the employee would book travel for someone who was in fact under the age of consent.”

Kelly’s brief marriage to pop star Aaliyah

Representing the United States, assistant US attorney Kayla Bensing said Kelly “had a system in place that lured young people into his orbit, and then he took over their lives”.

She went on to describe women aged 16 or 17 invited by members of Kelly’s staff to come backstage, including one who she said was invited by Kelly’s bouncers to come backstage at a concert in Miami.

She said that was “three days after Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah, in which he bribed a county official in order to hide or alleviate the consequences of illegal sexual activity”.

She also spoke about a former runner to Kelly, who described his girlfriends as “looking very young, specifically middle-aged teenagers”.

Ms Bensing also said there was evidence Kelly’s team knew he had been infected with herpes while having unprotected sex with his victims.

Claims of forced labour

She finally bought the claim of forced labour into the case, describing Kelly as “obtaining labour and services, here sex acts, through threats of serious harm or physical restraint against the victims”.

In her three-minute rebuttal of the argument, Ms Bonjean said the forced labour counts “were premised on a single act,” adding, “so unless the court is prepared to say that a single act of oral sex, even if it’s forced, frankly constitutes forced labour, that is just making federal law co-extensive with state law”.

She also said the government was taking the position that “a RICO enterprise cannot not be rooted in criminality,” which she described as “unique” and “not supported” by previous cases.

The judges will now consider the appeal, and will issue a written decision at a later date.

Under his current convictions, Kelly, who is 57, will not be eligible for release until he is 80 years old.

Kelly rose from poverty to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. He became known for chart-topping hits including I Believe I Can Fly, Bump ‘N’ Grind and Ignition.

Although abuse allegations began circulating in the 1990s, widespread outrage followed the #MeToo reckoning and the 2019 series Surviving R Kelly.

Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

Published

17 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

Entertainment

Police taking no further action after investigating Kneecap’s Glastonbury show

Published

19 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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Police taking no further action after investigating Kneecap's Glastonbury show

Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.

Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.

However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.

The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.

It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.

Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.

The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).

Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.

They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.

Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.

The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”

“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.

The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.

One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.

Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.

He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.

Entertainment

Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2025

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Tomorrowland: 'Devastating' blaze destroys main stage at major festival - two days before it was due to begin

A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.

Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.

Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.

It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.

Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.

The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.

The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.

Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.

Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.

“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”