Woman who lived with R. Kelly says he was abusive and she had two abortions
Editor's Note: Patreon has removed the account featured in this story of someone claiming to be Joycelyn Savage "due to potential impersonation." Patreon gave the following statement November 26:
"After multiple unsuccessful attempts to verify the identity of the account holder, we closed the Patreon page allegedly associated with Joycelyn Savage due to potential impersonation. All patrons who signed up for the membership page were refunded and the creator did not receive any funds."
A person claiming to be Joycelyn Savage, one of the women who was living with R. Kelly at the time of his arrest, said that he was physically abusive and said she had two abortions "because of some monster kept me as a prisoner." Savage is speaking out on Patreon, a paid membership forum, about her relationship with Kelly months after she previously defended him in public and in an interview with CBS News' Gayle King.
CBS News has not been able to verify it is Savage making the posts. Patreon would not confirm the page was created by Joycelyn Savage, only that a Patreon page was submitted for launch under that name.
Savage, 24, met Kelly at a concert when she was 19 years old. She said in her Patreon posts that he promised to further her career when she first met him, saying he would make her the "next Aaliyah." But, she said, he cut off her phone and told her she "couldn't do certain stuff without him knowing first or his assistant." She described it as "being locked up like some damn animal."
Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, issued a statement about Savage's claims saying, "it is unfortunate that Jocelyn now seeks to make money by exploiting her long time, loving relationship with Robert. Obviously if she were to tell the truth no one would pay so she has, unfortunately, chosen to regurgitate the stories and lies told by others for her own personal profit. We know the real facts, and it was not until the money ran out that she decided anything was wrong. Hopefully people will see it for the obvious profiteering it is."
Kelly is currently being held in a Chicago jail while he awaits trial on charges of sexually abusing women and underage girls. He has also been charged in New York. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In an earlier Patreon post, Savage said Kelly forced her to call him names like "Master" or "Daddy." In a post Sunday, Savage said she remembered one incident when she called to ask him if he could get her food and called him babe "instead of the two names I was forced to call him."
"He grabbed me and choked me until I blacked out," she said. "I had bruises around my neck, and I was told by him to wear a turtle necks or a scarf to cover them up whenever he would take me out in public."
Savage said Kelly's assistant "didn't care" and neither did the other women living in the house.
Also in Sunday's post, Savage said Kelly would urinate on her and make her swallow it. If she threw up, she said "piss would turn into feces." She said he wouldn't buy menstrual products.
She said she heard rumors Kelly had herpes and she said she made him start wearing a condom. But she said she got pregnant anyway, and she had "mixed emotions" because she "didn't want any babies with him at all." She said she had an abortion and then she later had another one.
Savage also described how Kelly would force her to say certain things to the media.
Savage pleaded for people not to judge her, saying, "imagine you being in my position but of course, you are quick to judge because you aren't in my position. Imagine having a gun to your head while all of this is going down."
In an interview with King in March, Savage and Azriel Clary, who also lived with Kelly, defended the singer, although their parents said they were being held hostage by Kelly. Savage insisted she was "very happy" and said he never promised to further her career.
Kelly was charged after the explosive interview with King in March.
Lauren Hoenemeyer contributed reporting.
