R. Kelly was tearful and angry in his first interview since pleading not guilty to sexual abuse charges. In a nearly 80-minute CBS This Morning interview that aired Wednesday, the singer told Gayle King that allegations he has been abusing women and girls for decades are untrue and "stupid," the Guardian reports. Asked if he'd ever held anybody against their will, he said: "How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I've been through in my way, way past, to hold somebody—let alone four, five, six, 50 you said—how stupid would I be to do that?" Kelly said. "Use your common sense." Kelly has been charged with 10 counts of sexual abuse against four victims, three of whom were underage at the time of the alleged attacks. More standout quotes:
- Asked if he'd ever been with underage girls, Kelly said: "I had two cases back then that I said in the beginning of the interview that I would not talk about because of my ongoing case now."
- King asked him which "lies" bother him most. He offered up a long list: "Oh my God. Um—all of them, got little girls trapped in the basement ... helicopters over my house trying to rescue someone that doesn't need rescuing because they're not in my house. Handcuffing people, starving people. I have a harem, what you call it—a cult. I don't even really know what a cult is. But I know I don't have one."