Despite growing claims for RCA Records to drop R. Kelly after a new wave of sexual misconduct allegations, the label continues to stand by his side. The singer’s team, however, just got a whole lot smaller.
R. Kelly’s entertainment lawyer, Linda Mensch, confirmed to the BBC that she no longer represents the singer, who has also been ditched by his executive assistant, Diane Copeland. Both women claim their departure had nothing to do with the BBC Three documentary R. Kelly: Sex, Girls And Videotapes that alleged Kelly held women against their will and “knowingly and intentionally infected” a 19-year-old woman with a sexually transmitted disease.
The timing, however, is quite curious.
Mensch and Copeland aren’t the only two people who have left the “Ignition” singer recently — his publicist, Trevian Kutti, also jumped ship. Kutti told Rolling Stone, “effective April 16, 2018, I no longer represent Mr. Robert Kelly.”
Kelly has faced a multitude of sexual misconduct allegations over the years, but they’ve seem to have come to a head recently after several women shed new details on the singer’s private life. In 2017, Jim DeRogatis published an investigative report for Buzzfeed that asserted Kelly preyed on young women, kept them away from their families, physically and mentally abused them, and forced them to follow strict rules.
At the time, Mensch stood by her former client.
“We can only wonder why folks would persist in defaming a great artist who loves his fans, works 24/7, and takes care of all of the people in his life. He works hard to become the best person and artist he can be,” she told Buzzfeed last July. “It is interesting that stories and tales debunked many years ago turn up when his goal is to stop the violence; put down the guns; and embrace peace and love.”
Now, she — like several others in Kelly’s inner circle — are singing a new tune.