R. Kelly's former girlfriend Azriel Clary has admitted that she "wasn't honest" during her infamous 2019 interview.
Jocelyn Savage and Azriel Clary
The disgraced singer was convicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges earlier this week and Azriel – who testified against her former partner during his trial – has claimed that R Kelly had coached her and Jocelyn Savage before the interview and had them "practicing every single day, answering questions".
Azriel also told Gayle King that Kelly would tell them "exactly what to say and how to say it".
During the 2019 interview, Clary and Savage claimed to be Kelly's "girlfriends" and denied that he was abusive, even though the 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer was sat nearby when the conversation took place.
Azriel also revealed that she was frightened of her then-boyfriend before the interview took place and suggested that Kelly had instructed her and Savage to be "angry" and "upset" during the chat.
She explained: "He did his interview first like he came in, and he told us to be angry and upset, and she's gonna try to do this, so we were – we came in angry.
"I was scared because I was like, 'I don't want the world to see me this way', you know? I don't – I'm loving, I'm caring, I'm compassionate. And no one got to see the side of me."
Azriel also reflected on the interview and described it as "a blessing", as it made her realise that it was not who she was as a person and she wasn't in a healthy relationship.
She said: "It kind of made me kind of wake up in a sense and realise, 'Why am I acting like this? Why am I putting myself through all of this misery? Why am I exploiting myself for a man who has me in this position in the first place, you know?'
"And I really had to come to terms and, you know, realise that it wasn't love. Love doesn't hurt, you know?"
Tagged in Gayle King