Perhaps the saddest commentary on 2018 is that you clicked this story with at least a passing suspicion that it dealt with the President of the United States of America. Alas, Ty Cobb is still working for Donald Trump. For now.
But Linda Mensch of noted entertainment law firm Leavens Strand & Glover has dropped one of her famous clients, informing the BBC on Friday that, after four years, she no longer represents R. Kelly or any of his entities. Mensch said that she stopped representing Kelly in February and that the decision had nothing to do with his social life.
On the other hand, where is the semantic line between “social life” and “racking up allegations of sexual misconduct”? Kelly managed to overcome child pornography charges related to the video that appears to show him urinating on a girl, but it turned out that incident was only the beginning of the accusations against Kelly. Just last year, Mensch served on the team that represented Kelly against allegations of running a sex cult, which is apparently all the rage these days.
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And now a new BBC documentary, R Kelly: Sex, Girls And Videotapes, explores more troubling allegations:
I highlighted one particular allegation, from his former girlfriend Kitti Jones: she claimed R Kelly groomed a girl from the age of 14. Kitti had confirmed for the first time that she was part of R Kelly’s “sex dungeon” where she was forced to have sex with him and other people on “more than 10” occasions.
She believes some of the girls in the ‘sex dungeon’ were underage, and talked about an encounter with R Kelly where he told her that he had been “training” one of the girls from the age of 14 to be one of his “pets”. Kelly has previously denied these claims, calling them false and defamatory.
Go ahead and insert the obligatory Trapped In The Closet joke here.
Whatever the case, Kelly needs to find himself a new lawyer fast. If these claims are false, he’ll need someone out there pushing back and if they’re true he’ll need someone out there negotiating a plea.
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R Kelly: Part of his inner circle resign amid ‘sex pet’ allegations [BBC]
R. Kelly’s lawyer, publicist, and assistant just quit [Vox]
Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.