A woman who testified at R. Kelly’s sex abuse trial on Friday, September 3, claimed she reached a $200,000 settlement with the R&B singer after she contracted herpes. The woman, who identified herself as Kate, took to the stand to testify against the world-famous R&B singer at his sex abuse trial in Brooklyn.
Kate claimed she was 27 when she met Kelly in 2001 and contracted herpes from him after they slept together. She told the court Kelly was tight-lipped when she later accused him of giving her the sexually transmitted disease. Kate said she settled with the singer in 2004, and that the herpes diagnosis ‘greatly affected her ability to enter future relationships.
Her personal physician has also testified, saying he treated the star for herpes for several years. Kelly’s lawyer Deveraux Cannick used his cross-examination to undercut earlier testimony that Kelly demanded that his girlfriends follow strict rules.
These rules have included needing Kelly’s permission to go to the bathroom, looking away from other men, and not talking about Kelly in his absence, several witnesses have testified. Kate told Cannick that Kelly behaved differently around her, letting her go to the bathroom when she wanted and not making her wait around for him for long periods. She also said she helped him write down song lyrics.
Kelly, 54, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, has been on trial since Aug.18 for running an alleged decade-long racketeering scheme targeting women and girls for sex, with help from employees and assistants. He has pleaded not guilty.