While many of the entertainment industry’s elite showed off their red carpet looks on Sunday at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, Asante McGee, an accuser of R. Kelly’s, shared a message for the women currently in his life—and allegedly, under his strict control—while speaking with celebrity site TooFab.
“A lot of women, our voices [are] not being heard,” McGee noted via an exclusive video for the site. “So then, when you come against a high-profile artist like R. Kelly, no one believes us. But when it’s power in numbers, everything falls together.”
McGee, who appeared in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly, was on the red carpet representing the documentary alongside producers and fellow accusers of the artist. The explosive documentary, executive produced by dream hampton, among others, won the Best Documentary award.
McGee, who says she was in a relationship with Kelly for two years, lived only three weeks in his home before she, like many others, alleges that the abuse began. Asked whether she had a message for the young women currently living with Kelly and estranged from their families in what has been alleged to be a “sex cult,” she was direct.
“Love yourself first and if he really genuinely loves you, why is he keeping you away from your family?” McGee asked, citing her own claims of manipulation while linked to Kelly. “Your family loves you. They miss you. They just want to make sure you’re okay. So if he loves you the way that you say that he loves you, then you will be able to freely reunite with your family.”
At this time, Kelly is free on bond after pleading not guilty to 11 felony counts of sex-related charges. While their families claim otherwise, the women he is purportedly involved with have claimed no coercion or abuse has taken place.