The singer broke down in tears as he claimed to Gayle King onCBS This Morning, Thursday — in a previously recorded interview — that he was unable to work, and subsequently unable to earn an income, because ex-wife Andrea “Drea” Kelly was “destroying” his name.
“How can I pay child support? How?! If my ex-wife is destroying my name and I can’t work? How can I work? How can I get paid? How can I take care of my kids? How? Use your common sense,” he said.
After denying King’s call for a tissue to wipe his tears, Kelly continued: “Thirteen years being married. I flew in on a helicopter. I flew in on a helicopter with a damn puppy and I proposed to Drea, whom I was in love with, and told her, ‘Hey, look, I make mistakes, I’m not perfect.’ We got married. We had three beautiful kids. Not once have I ever had a domestic violence call at the house … it never happened, OK?”
CBS
Andrea Kelly spoke toPEOPLEin January about the couple’s volatile relationship and said her breaking point came after the singer tried to lock her in a bathroom.
“I remember being ready to jump off the balcony of our hotel suite and commit suicide,” she said. “Thank God I didn’t. After that I said, ‘I’m done.’ In 2004 I called my dad, packed my bags and left with our kids in the night.”
The pair’s divorce was finalized in 2009.
A spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE R. Kelly, 52, was arrested Wednesday and transferred to the county jail, where he will remain until he pays $161,000 in back child support that he owes.
He is due back in court March 13.
RELATED VIDEO: R. Kelly Released from Jail After Paying His $100,000 Bond
The R&B singer’s publicist Darryll Johnson told theAssociated Pressthat Kelly had hoped he’d only have to pay his ex up to $60,000 Wednesday, but the judge requested the full amount.
Johnson said Kelly, whose real name is Robert Kelly, did not have the money to pay his ex, as he has been unable to work.
R. Kelly.Cook County Sheriff’s Office
This is the second time in one month the singer has found himself behind bars; he was released from jail Feb. 25 after paying 10 percent of his $1 million bail amount.
The star, through his legal team, has repeatedly denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, and broke his own silence on the matter in the King interview.
During the heated sit-down, Kelly grew increasingly agitated, eventually looking directly into the camera, yelling and standing up out of his chair.
“Stop it. Y’all, quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff,” Kelly said while getting choked up. “This is not me! I’m fighting for my f—ing life!”
King also sat down with two of Kelly’s girlfriends, Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary, who defended the star and denied he tore them away from their now-estranged families.
“I’m crying because you guys don’t know the truth,” Clary said in a clip of the interview, which aired Thursday morning. “You guys are believing some f—ing facade that our parents are saying. This is all f—ing lies for money, and if you can’t see that, you’re ignorant and you’re stupid.”
Gayle King’s full interview airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
source: people.com
