R. Kelly's ex claims says she previously lied to protect singer.
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A survivor of R. Kelly’s sexual abuse — who previously called herself his “girlfriend” and was one of his fiercest defenders — is now singing a different tune.
In her first public appearance since testifying against Kelly, 54, in his sexual misconduct trial, Azriel Clary, 22, says she previously lied about “everything” in order to protect the embattled R&B singer.
Her striking revelation comes days after the “I Believe I Can Fly” crooner was found guilty on sex-trafficking charges by a federal jury in Brooklyn.
“I was lost and I felt invisible,” Clary confessed to Gayle King on “CBS Mornings” Thursday.
“I gave someone control over me to basically make me do whatever it was that they wanted me to do and act how they wanted me to act.”
Clary, who endured sexual abuse at the hand of the Grammy Award winner from ages 17 to 21, infamously defended Kelly’s then-alleged predatory misconduct during a contentious interview with King in 2019.
But she now claims the “Ignition” musician aggressively coached her and another woman, Joycelyn Savage, 26, who remains loyal to Kelly, on what to say and how to behave prior to their talk with King two years ago.
In an exclusive interview, @gayleking speaks with Azriel Clary, one of the R. Kelly survivors who testified against him in court.
“You are never too old to wake up and say, ‘Hey, I thought this was good for me, but it’s actually not,’” she says of speaking out against Kelly. pic.twitter.com/SADqcznJB9
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) September 30, 2021“He told us to be angry and upset,” Clary admitted Thursday.
“Before that interview he had us practicing every single day,” she added, claiming the “Sex Me” singer had them rehearse answers to questions King would likely ask during their on-camera dialogue.
“And if he didn’t like our answers, he would tell us exactly what to say and how to say it,” she revealed.
Clary said Kelly firmly instructed her and Savage to avoid questions about his sexual proclivities.
“Anytime you’d mention anything about sexual preference, we’d already know to say, ‘I’m not here to talk about that,’” she explained to King. “Because that’s what he told us to say every single time.”
And despite her fervent safeguarding of Kelly’s image throughout that interview, Clary says she immediately regretted misrepresenting herself as a hostile person.
“I was scared because I was like, ‘I don’t want the world to see me this way. I’m loving, I’m caring, I’m compassionate,’” she said. “And no one got to see that side of me.”
But Kelly, according to Clary, was giddily pleased with her performance.
“He was so happy,” she said. “He was like, ‘You guys did amazing. You did so well. You carried yourselves so well.’”
“He got food and wanted to celebrate,” Clary continued. “That’s how happy he was with that interview.”
She claims the “Bump N’ Grind” boomer was equally satisfied with his own portion of the interview with King — during which he cried and stomped around, pleading his innocence against countless claims of sexual inappropriateness from scores of underage accusers.
“I think he believed that he had done well,” Clary said. “He’d felt like he had really made a great reflection of himself … and how all these women were lying on him, and how all these people were out to get him.”
Clary, who ended her relationship with Kelly in December 2019, said she felt “happy” while testifying against him in federal court this August.
“It was very disturbing to have to relive those moments,” she said.
During the trial, victims of Kelly’s misconduct claimed he, among other things, gave them vaginal herpes, forced them to get abortions and made them smear feces across their faces and mouths.
“A piece of me was happy,” she told King of taking the stand. “Because I felt like, ‘This person no longer has control over me. You don’t tell me what to do, what to wear and where to go and how long to be in a room anymore.’”
Clary, who’s now undergoing therapy, is learning to forgive herself for defending Kelly.
“I have to take accountability for my actions,” she said. “It’s OK to re-evaluate your life. It is OK to change your mind. You’re never too old to wake up and say, ‘Hey, I thought this was good for me, but it’s actually not.’”
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