R. Kelly Gets Hysterical in New Interview With Gayle King

Gayle King sat down with R. Kelly in his first interview since he was charged with sexual abuse last month, with the two-part segments scheduled to air starting Wednesday. While I am uncertain why any interview had to happen in the first place, the snippets made available by CBS This Morning are simultaneously infuriating and deeply draining, with Kelly’s insistence on his innocence quickly veering toward hysterical.

In a clip posted by CBS, King asks Kelly about his history with underage girls, which Kelly dismisses by saying he “beat his case.”

“When you beat your case, you beat your case,” he said, as though that somehow answered her question.

But it’s in the second clip that Kelly really starts to unravel, shrieking at King that it would be “stupid” of him to lock up and sexually assault underage girls.

“Forget the blogs, forget how you feel about me. Hate me if you want to; love me if you want. But just use your common sense,” he said. “How stupid would it be for me…with my crazy past and what I’ve been through?”

Kelly was indicted in February on ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four alleged victims. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his lawyer, Steve Greenberg, asserting that “all the women are lying.”

If this is the way you would like to start your morning, you can catch the interview at 7 a.m. ET.