One of the women who lived with R. Kelly breaks silence, saying she is a "victim"
Editor's Note: Patreon has removed the account featured in this story of someone claiming to be Joycelyn Savage "due to potential impersonation". Patreon gave the following statement on November 26:
"After multiple unsuccessful attempts to verify the identity of the account holder, we closed the Patreon page allegedly associated with Joycelyn Savage due to potential impersonation. All patrons who signed up for the membership page were refunded and the creator did not receive any funds."
A person claiming to be Joycelyn Savage, one of the two women who lived with singer R. Kelly and defended him in an interview with Gayle King earlier this year, is speaking out against Kelly for the first time. "As one of his victims — yes victim — I've seen more and heard more!" Savage posted Saturday on Patreon, a paid membership platform.
CBS News has not been able to verify it is Savage making the posts. Patreon would not confirm the page was created by Joycelyn Savage, only that a Patreon page was submitted for launch under that name.
Savage met Kelly at a concert in 2015 when she was 19 years old. She and Azriel Clary, who were both living with Kelly before his arrest, told King in March that they both were in a relationship with him. But Savage and Clary's parents both say their daughters were brainwashed.
Savage broke her two-year hiatus from social media on Friday with an Instagram post saying she had partnered with Patreon to tell her side of the story in a series of posts. "I am risking my life for many others. This story is 18+ and only for mature audience. I want to make sure my story is very detailed as I can remember," the caption read.
In the first Patreon post, Savage called Kelly "controlling" and said he gave her "commands" and forced her to call him names like "Master" or "Daddy." Savage said she "didn't really care for" calling him either of the names, but, "it started getting worse by day by day, he would raise his voice at me if I didn't call him by those two names. If Robert called me I would have to reply with 'yes, daddy' or 'please daddy.'"
Savage said Kelly likes to "manipulate whoever he was in the room with, even down to his own assistant." Savage claimed Kelly controlled what parts of the house she could go to, and restricted her privacy. "If I showered, one of his assistants would have to be by the door while I shower," Savage said, adding that Kelly didn't let her speak to her parents in private and sometimes told her what to say to them.
Savage also described meeting Kelly at a concert when she was 19 years old, and said he promised to further her career. She said he said he would make her the "next Aaliyah."
Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, issued a statement calling it "unfortunate" that Savage "now seeks to make money by exploiting her long time, loving relationship with Robert." Kelly is currently behind bars in Chicago while he awaits trial on charges of sexually abusing women and underage girls. He has also been charged in New York. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Judges have denied Kelly's bail requests on grounds that he might flee or tamper with witnesses. Kelly's attorneys said he doesn't have the money to flee, and said in court documents that he is only able to receive visits in jail from one of his two live-in girlfriends.
Kelly was charged after an explosive interview with King where he insisted his accusers are "lying on me!"
"Everybody says something bad about me," Kelly told King. "Nobody said nothing good. They was describing Lucifer. I'm not Lucifer."
King asked Kelly about allegations that he lured women with promises of helping their singing careers. Kelly claimed it was Savage's mother who pushed him on the issue.
"She started promoting that Joycelyn could sing. And she was a singer. And she's trying to be a singer and, you know, you know, wanting me to produce her or whatever. I said, 'Well, you know, let her sing.' She sang. And she couldn't sing," Kelly said.
"But how does it go from she can't sing, you don't think she has the talent that you like, but she ends up being with you, spending time with you, living with you?" King asked.
He said he's not with Savage for the talent.
"When I saw her on stage, nothing about her told me she sing. I don't have — you know — I can't say, 'Oh, that girl sing.' It's 'cause she was beautiful," Kelly said.
King asked Clary and Savage whether either of them wanted to sing. "No," they both responded. Savage said her 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." Both Savage's parents and Clary's parents denied ever asking for money.
After Kelly's interview with King, Savage called her family the following Wednesday for the first time in years to let them know she's OK. Less than an hour before Savage called, the family held a news conference, urging their daughter to contact them. "I'm just letting you know I need you guys to understand that I'm very happy," Savage told them on the call.
This post has been updated to include that CBS News has not independently verified it is Savage making the posts.
