Who Are R. Kelly’s Siblings?
Robert Sylvester Kelly widely known as R. Kelly is an American musician who became a convicted felon, racketeer, and sex offender. He sold over 75 million records worldwide during his recording career. He is regarded as the most commercially successful male R&B artist of the 1990s and one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Who are R. Kelly’s Siblings?
The singer-songwriter, R. Kelly is the son of Joanne Kelly, a schoolteacher, and devout Baptist. His father’s identity remains a mystery and he was absent in R. Kelly’s life. He was born Robert Sylvester Kelly on January 8, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. R. Kelly is not the only child, he has siblings. His mother Joanne raised R. Kelly and his siblings as a single mom.
Joanne Kelly later married Lucious, who reportedly worked for an airline. R. Kelly claimed he had a very close relationship with his mother Joanne Kelly. He even said he had a ‘serious crush on his mother.’ “In a son/mother way, I had a serious, serious crush on my mom. I just looked up and down to her,” he said.
“I looked around. I looked everything about my mother. Y’know, I loved her. And I even asked her to marry me one day–she said ‘no,’ but I understood.” However, Joanne died from cancer in 1993. R. Kelly has five siblings. His siblings are Theresa Kelly, Bruce Kelly, Cassandra Kelly, Lisa Kelly, and Carey Kelly.
Theresa Kelly- R. Kelly’s Sister
Theresa Kelly was born on January 2, 1962. She is the daughter of Joanne Kelly. She is also known as Lady T. She had to babysit her siblings because she was the eldest. She was in the spotlight after she was accused of sexually abusing both her younger siblings, Robert “R.” Kelly and Carey while they were kids.
According to Carey in an interview for ‘Unwind With Tasha K,’ Theresa started her abuse towards her siblings when she had to babysit them as a teenager while their mother was at work. Per Carey’s account, Theresa will make sure their sibling Bruce was out of the house to play before she did her thing with either him or Robert.
However, Robert and Carey did not witness each other’s alleged molestation. Carey was able to describe most of what Theresa did to him. He insisted that she first assaulted him when he was just 7 years old and she was 16 years old, whereas, for Robert, it was when he was 6 years old and she was 13 years old.
Also Read: Theresa Kelly- Who is R. Kelly’s sister, Where is she now?
A lawyer for Robert aka R. Kelly has blamed his “hypersexual” behavior on being repeatedly sexually abused by his sister as a child. Theresa has denied such allegations however, she and Robert have reportedly been able to remain on amicable terms. Theresa is a stylist and family woman, with kids of her own.
Bruce Kelly- R. Kelly’s elder brother
Bruce Kelly was born on July 16, 1965, as the oldest son of Joanne Kelly. He was serving time in jail. Per Heavy.com, ‘An Illinois inmate search reveals that he is at the Shawnee Correctional Facility in Illinois, and his projected discharge date is September 11, 2021’.
Bruce Kelly was sentenced for a string of offenses, including possession of a controlled substance, burglary, violation of electronic monitoring, and theft. He was first taken into custody on October 25, 2006, and his most recent offense took place in March 2018. He also got involved in Part 1 of Lifetime’s Surviving R Kelly Lifetime documentary.
The documentary detailed the sexual abuse allegations against Robert “R.” Kelly. At the time they were filming the documentary, Bruce was serving time at Chicago’s Cook County jail. During his interview for Surviving R. Kelly, Bruce said of R. Kelly, “Rob was shy and very timid. If you stared at him in his face he would cry.”
Bruce Kelly also revealed that, “Robert likes younger women. You have people who have fetishes about different things. I like older women. Go figure, you know. But that’s just a preference. … Everyone has preferences… So what is the big deal? What’s the big issue with my brother?”
However, Bruce Kelly told CBS Chicago that he doesn’t believe the charges against his brother are true. “I don’t believe these charges are true… I don’t believe these women are being truthful. I don’t.” Still, Bruce acknowledges that his brother was very demanding with other women and would often tell them what to do. “I believe that Robert has an addiction. A sexual addiction. And he really needs to get counseling, help.
Also Read: Bruce Kelly: Why is R. Kelly’s Brother in Jail?
Carey Kelly- R. Kelly’s younger brother
Carey Kelly was born on December 5, 1970, the youngest son of Joanne Kelly. He is a musician. The theceminaholice has it that, multiple women who shared their stories of abuse at the hands of R. Kelly have also mentioned that they saw Carey on several occasions in the same house as his brother. However, he seems to have an estranged relationship with R. Kelly.
Carey Kelly and R. Kelly fell victim to sexual abuse at the hands of their elder sister Theresa Kelly and a neighbor, Mr. Henry. Mr. Henry was reported to the police after the abuse was revealed to Carey’s mother but Mr. Henry managed to bail himself out and later bribed Carey’s mother with $5,000 to stay quiet about the situation, which she did.
According to Carey Kelly, he believes R. Kelly did not see the abuse as it was and even bragged to his brother Bruce about losing his virginity. Carey revealed in an interview that the abuse went on for nearly six years. There was a 2008 case against R. Kelly regarding a video of him being intimate with a minor girl, and the charge was that of child pornography.
R. Kelly asked Carey Kelly to take the blame and testify that he was the one in the video. Carey said he was offered $50,000 and other materialistic valuables in exchange for the favor but he refused. Carey Kelly recalled: ‘He was asking me, “You need to say that was you.”- He said -‘Perjure myself in a court of law and risk jail time for some stuff that didn’t have anything to do with me?
ALSO, READ; Carey Kelly: What Happened to R. Kelly’s brother?
He was saying, “Man, I’ll buy you a car, I’ll buy you a record deal, I’ll give you $50,000.” I said, “Let me tell you something, man. You ain’t got enough money for me to say that’s me. Because it ain’t worth me selling my soul”.’. Carey is reportedly not close with any of his family members.
Cassandra Kelly & Lisa Kelly- R. Kelly’s sisters
Cassandra Kelly and Lisa Kelly are also R. Kelly’s siblings. There isn’t much information about their personal lives but they came out to reveal that they believe R. Kelly’s 30-year sentence is rooted in racism. They spoke on Good Morning Britain in a televised interview.
Also Read: Carey Kelly: What Happened to R. Kelly’s brother?
“African-Americans have always been treated unfairly. I think that has a lot to do with it as well as other factors,” Cassandra explained to North American Correspondent Noel Phillips. Lisa chimed in, “Just because he’s been found guilty doesn’t mean he’s guilty.”
“Robert doesn’t have to hold someone hostage,” she added. “Women come to him.” Furthermore, the sisters suggested, “a lot of the alleged victims are bitter.” From her perspective, the only victim is her brother.
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