R. Kelly was admitted to marry Aaliyah so she could have an abortion, testifies ‘Jane Doe’

NEW YORK – R&B singer R. Kelly infamously married Aaliyah Haughton when she was 15 in 1994 – and on Monday a dark motivation for the marriage was alleged in a federal court.

A second Jane Doe positioned herself at Brooklyn’s federal courthouse in New York to testify that R. Kelly told her that he married the singer known simply as Aaliyah when she was 15 so she could have an abortion.

Doe, 23, testified that Kelly gathered her various friends so they could ask her anything they would like. He stated that when someone asked him to explain why he married Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001, he said only parents and spouses could give legal permission for a minor to have an abortion.

He also said he gave Aaliyah money and a secret “mobile phone” to reach him in case of an emergency.

Aaliyah is named another Jane Doe in the federal case against Kelly, charged with one count of cheating and four counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits bringing minors on state lines for prostitution.

Kelly met Aaliyah when she was 12 and began writing and producing music for her, including her debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number.”

Her former tour director Demetrius Smith, who reluctantly testified Friday and Monday, admitted he bribed 500 people he knew in the social office to get Aaliyah a fake ID so she and Kelly, then 27, they could get married. .

Smith told the courtroom he was present when the two obtained a marriage license and when they married in casual clothes at a Chicago Sheraton. Shortly after exchanging votes, Kelly left to perform at her show, she said.

“It simply came to our notice then. It was bad, “said Smith. Before being cut by Judge Ann Donnelly, she added, “I shouldn’t talk about Aaliyah because she’s not here.”

Doe will continue his testimony on Tuesday.