Gayle King said she wasn’t afraid when R. Kelly exploded during their interview.
King was widely praised for her composure during her talk with Kelly. She said tranquility was the only way to do it on her CBS This Morning interview which aired, in part, on Monday.
“It wouldn’t do any good if we both got hysterical,” King said.
During the interview, Kelly became extraordinarily emotional and yelled at both King and the cameras. He is currently facing 70 years in prison for 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse. The assaults allegedly occurred between 1998 and 2010.
"I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f-ing life!"
R&B singer @RKelly, charged with aggravated sexual abuse, angrily denies the accusations in an explosive new interview with @GayleKing.
Watch only on @CBSThisMorning Wednesday. https://t.co/3twdBwA9yg
pic.twitter.com/cZ15cc44zZ— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 6, 2019
“I didn’t do this stuff,” Kelly screamed. "This is not me! I'm fighting for my f**king life!"
It was more than evident the tantrum didn't threaten King.
“I thought I might get accidentally clobbered, but I didn’t think he’d deliberately try to hurt me,” King said. “I never felt in danger talking to him.”
She thinks the moment was a build-up of suppressed feelings.
“I just felt he had a lot of emotion, he wanted to release it.”
King also spoke to Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, Kelly’s girlfriends, about their relationship. The women accused their parents of harassing Kelly for monetary gain.
WATCH: @GayleKing spoke to Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary about living with R. Kelly and their estranged relationship with their families. It made them very emotional.
We'll bring you more of their interview, tomorrow only on @CBSThisMorning. pic.twitter.com/R9IWQmy8RR
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 6, 2019
"Both our parents are basically out here trying to get money and scam, because they didn't agree on what happened, you know, with music or whatever it could be. And they're just very upset," Savage, 23, said.
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An emotional Clary, 21, claimed her parents wanted to use her to blackmail the 52-year-old Kelly.
"I'm crying, because you guys don't know the truth! You guys believe in some f**king facade that our parents are saying. This is all f**king lies for money, and if you can't see that, you're ignorant and you're stupid as f**k because you want to be. All because that's the world we live in. Negativity sells, gossip is what sells, rumors are what sell," Clary said.
Both parents deny any wrongdoing, and King said Clary’s dad’s “head would explode” when he heard his daughter’s accusations.
King, once again, conducted herself with maturity and shared her belief that the “Ignition” singer was manipulating his girlfriends during the interview.
“His team told us that R. Kelly would not be in the room during the interview. After the interview started, he was around the corner, behind them, they couldn’t see him, but at points during the conversation, he would cough very loudly. So, they would know he was there.”
Vulture reports the full interview will air as an hour-long prime-time special on Friday.
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