Gayle King’s Interview with Azriel Clary Is Her First Interview Since R. Kelly Was Found Guilty

CBS MORNINGS co-host Gayle King sat down with Azriel Clary, one of the survivors who testified against R. Kelly during the trial, for an exclusive interview on CBS MORNINGS. Clary, who was a minor when she met Kelly, previously defended him in an interview with King in 2019. This is her first interview since R. Kelly was found guilty of all nine counts against him, including racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

Watch and read more here: https://cbsn.ws/3F6ipnx

Twitter link part 1: https://bit.ly/3CTUHJa

Twitter link part 2: https://bit.ly/3CW3Fpx

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Excerpts:

- On her journey to taking the stand against R. Kelly, after defending him in her last interview with King in 2019: “I feel like that interview was a blessing because, you know, for five years, since I was 17, I didn’t have any relationship with any other woman except for the women that he had been intimate with. And so when I did that interview with you, I instantly regretted immediately how I reacted.”

- On if girls ever had conversations about leaving when R. Kelly wasn’t around: “I feel like a lot of people tried, but everyone always got beat over it because he was very good at manipulating the situation. So even if he knew or not, he would basically say – he could come in this room right now and he would say, ‘You know, I’ve already spoken to Joy. She already told me exactly what you guys have been talking about. You have five minutes to be honest, or you’re going to be thrown around this entire room.’

- On her last interview with King in 2019: “You know, before that interview – you know, he had us practicing every single day. Answering questions, yes. And if he didn’t like our answers, he would tell us exactly what to say and how to say it... Any time you mentioned anything about sexual preference, we already know to say, ‘I’m not here to talk about that’ because that’s what he told us to say every single time.”

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