R. Kelly married Aaliyah so she could have an abortion

A Jane Doe who spoke on the fourth day of R. Kelly’s trial in Brooklyn alleged that the singer married Aaliyah in 1994 so that he could have an abortion.

Aaliyah, who was only 15 at the time, was both too young to be married and too young to have an abortion (legally speaking). According to the anonymous witness, Kelly had one day gathered several of her girlfriends, inviting them to ask her whatever they wanted. When one of them asked Kelly why he married Aaliyah, Kelly explained that she needed legal permission as a minor to get the procedure, and that only parents or spouses could. to agree.

But to become his wife, Kelly, who was 27 at the time, first had to get a fake ID for Aaliyah, which showed she was 18. She and Kelly got married in a secret ceremony at a Chicago hotel.

Jane Doe’s account resonates testimonial from Kelly’s former tour manager, who spoke in court last week about how Kelly left a concert tour when Aaliyah told him she thought she was pregnant. Tour director Demetrius Smith, who admitted to bribing a public official with $ 500 to fabricate Aaliyah’s fake ID, speculated Kelly married the teenage R&B star to avoid jail.

It is not known if Aaliyah was indeed pregnant, and if so, where she had the abortion Kelly allegedly discussed with her girlfriends. Although there were no parental notification laws in effect in Illinois in 1994, there were some in Michigan, where Aaliyah grew up: Legislation passed in 1990 requires that anyone under the age of 18 have the written consent of a parent or legal guardian to obtain the procedure.

The logic of Kelly’s story to his girlfriends isn’t entirely consistent – whether he was going to marry Aaliyah so he could give her written consent to have her abortion at the age of 15 , wouldn’t that also raise the question of why a 15-year-old has a husband? In addition: a spouse is generally not considered a “legal guardian” outside the limits of a guardianship.

Nonetheless, the story is disturbing, another glimpse of the coercive relationship. Moreover, we will never know Aaliyah’s experience on this matter.

“It shouldn’t have happened. It was wrong, ”Smith told the marriage court. “I shouldn’t be talking about Aaliyah because she’s not here.”