R. Kelly's Lawyer, Assistant, Publicist Quit Following Further Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The inner-circle exits follow a number of troubling claims against the R&B singer.

R. Kelly's attorney, assistant and publicist have all cut ties with the singer, following several recent sexual misconduct allegations that have been raised against him. 

On Friday (April 20), following a report from Pitchfork, Kelly's representative Trevian Kutti confirmed with Billboard that as of April 16 she no longer works with him. Meanwhile, according to BBC3, Kelly's entertainment attorney, Linda Mensch, and his assistant, Diana Copeland, have also left his team. (Mensch also confirmed her resignation to Billboard.)

The resignations follow a Washington Post report published Sunday detailing claims made by a Texas woman that Kelly infected her with a sexually transmitted infection during an eight-month relationship beginning when she was 19 years-old. The woman has filed a police report in Dallas, where the infection allegedly took place and is preparing a federal civil complaint. As well, the woman further alleged, via her lawyer, that she was "being groomed to join Kelly's sex cult" -- referencing an alleged entourage of sex partners with which Kelly travels and over which he exercises intense control, as reported by BuzzFeed last year.

As well, last month, a BBC3 documentary called R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes aired, in which a woman named Kitti Jones claimed that during her two years of dating Kelly from 2011-2013, he introduced her to a girl who he had "trained" since she was 14 to become one of his so-called sex "pets." Jones, herself, said she was groomed by Kelly and forced into sex with him and at least 10 others in his "sex dungeon."

These are only some of the latest accusations of sexual misconduct made against Kelly. In 2008, he was acquitted of child pornography charges after he was accused of filming a sex tape with a minor.

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