R. Kelly’s defense attorney ruffled feathers over the weekend when he said that everyone who has accused his client of sexual misconduct is a liar.
By Monday afternoon, though, one of the women featured in the Lifetime docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly” pushed back.
“The only person lying is your client, which he has done for more than 20 years,” Lizzette Martinez said during a Monday afternoon press conference in Los Angeles.
“He’s been doing that for a very long time,” she added. “What would be our motive to lie?”
Martinez was flanked by her attorney, Gloria Allred, who said that she represents more than six people who claim to have suffered abuses at the hands of Kelly.
Martinez was featured in the Lifetime series that spurred fresh scrutiny of the R&B star and the allegations of sexual misconduct and impropriety that have dogged him for the better part of two decades.
Martinez said Monday that she had an “abusive relationship” with Kelly that started in 1995 when she was 17 and lasted until 1999.
Kelly surrendered to police Friday evening, hours after he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. A judge set his bail at $1 million, but he has so far been unable to post the requisite $100,000 — 10 percent — to be released.
“He’s where he belongs,” Martinez said of Kelly’s weekend stay at the Cook County Jail.
Allred’s fellow Los Angeles attorney Michael Avenatti said that he turned over a video to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office earlier this month that, he says, shows Kelly engaging in sex acts with a 14-year-old girl. Monday, Avenatti said he turned over another tape to prosecutors.
While Avenatti — who also represents several people who claim they were abused by Kelly — has taken an outspoken, bombastic approach to the case, Allred preached patience Monday.
“We’ll have to see what the facts are, and I think it’s only fair to wait,” Allred said. “Sometimes justice moves slowly.”
READ MORE
• Kelly in court on sex abuse charges; pleads not guilty, will return in March
• Arrangements underway to pay R. Kelly’s $100K bail: Lawyer
• The R. Kelly investigation
