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R Kelly girlfriend Azriel Clary reunites with family, says she has been a victim of abuse

By | Published on Monday 13 January 2020

R Kelly

One of R Kelly’s girlfriends, Azriel Clary, has announced that she has left the musician and returned to her family. Tweeting over the weekend, she said that she now realises that she has been the victim of abuse.

It appeared last week that Clary’s support for Kelly had ended when a live video was posted to Instagram in which she and Kelly’s other girlfriend Joycelyn Savage came to blows. During that fight, which resulted in Savage being charged with battery, Clary seemed to make a number of accusations against Kelly.

Clary then accompanied Savage to a court appearance in Chicago on Friday. There she reunited with her parents, Alice and Angelo, and seemingly subsequently decided to return to the family home that she left aged seventeen to move in with Kelly.

Speaking to People on Friday, and confirming that they were now back in touch with their daughter, Alice Clary said: “The battle is won because she’s still here, she’s still alive, she’s still breathing, and though she lost a few years of her life, she’s still here to tell her story … The victory is won because she finally came to her senses. People don’t understand she’s hurt. This man lied to her for years, and she was doing what she thought a good girlfriend would do because that’s what she thought she was”.

Tweeting over the weekend, Azriel Clary herself said: “I woke up today happy but torn, I didn’t come to Chicago for [R Kelly], only for Joy. He purposely separated us because he knew I’d try to make her go home. Please pray for Joy, this is just tough love so she can come to her own realisation at her own timing”.

“I just want people to embrace me, love me and forgive me because I’m young and I just didn’t know”, she added. “Please do not crucify me for not being knowledgeable. No one ever wakes up and says ‘today I’m going to be manipulated, or taken advantage of, or kidnapped’. Those are things you just cannot control. I never thought me and victim would ever be in the same sentence because I was too in denial. But once you realise, you realise”.

Savage was released on bail following her court appearance last week, with a further hearing due in the next few weeks. Although it is understood that she returned to Kelly’s Chicago home after being released, TMZ reports that she also met with her family while at the court.

Kelly is currently awaiting trial in three US states accused of sexual abuse against women and girls over many years. Since his initial arrest last year, Clary and Savage have been firm supporters of the musician, denying that they had been held against their will or abused. They have also been in attendance at his court appearances and were expected to give evidence in his defence.

In November, a Patreon account was set up in Savage’s name making various accusations against Kelly. But the account was subsequently shut down after Patreon was unable to confirm the identity of the person who set it up. Savage later denied that she had been behind it.



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