R. Kelly‘s sex trafficking trial continued Tuesday with Suzette Mayweather, former employee, taking the stand to testify against the singer, alleging he would force his live-in girlfriends to fight one another as a form of punishment.
New York Daily News reports that Mayweather, who is no longer employed by Kelly but worked for him for several years, claims women were forced to fight each other at Kelly’s 2016 birthday party.
“He didn’t like an incident where they were twerking for cake… He had to have them get on each other. I think they were fighting,” Mayweather recalled, but admitted she did not see the chaos and only heard the racket upstairs.
Mayweather also recalled another time when one of Kelly’s live in girlfriends allegedly came to her, revealing red marks where the singer allegedly spanked her. She also revealed Kelly became enraged when she broke one of his strict rules by speaking to one of his live-in girlfriends, noting, “It was the first time that I’d ever seen Rob really upset… It wasn’t the tone, it was the look in his eyes.”
She also backed up claims made by other witnesses that Kelly would withhold employees’ pay over small mistakes, saying he used to call it a “fine.” Mayweather also claimed Kelly would confine women to their rooms for days at a time.
Kelly, 54, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, faces state and federal charges for sex trafficking, racketeering, coercion and other charges related to the alleged abuse and exploitation of six women — three of whom were underage at the time — over the course of 25 years. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
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