Derrel McDavid, R. Kelly’s former business manager, took the position of defense on Wednesday. He faces four federal indictments against him, two counts of him receiving child pornography, one count of conspiracy to receive child pornography, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Prior to the Cook County child pornography trial in 2008, McDavid conspired with Kelly and Kelly’s former assistant, Milton “June” Brown, to accuse Kelly of sexually abusing girls. Kelly has been accused of covering up a sex tape that showed him having sex, resulting in Kelly’s acquittal.
McDavid, who was hired as Kelly’s accountant in the 1990s, said he first met Kelly early in his career as a singer. said he had not heard, telling jurors Kelly seemed disappointed.
McDavid explained that when Kelly first met him, he was a shy, introverted and humble child.
“He was just trying to get into the music business and make it,” McDavid testified.
McDavid said his singing career grew as Kelly rose to music superstardom. He said he was close.
McDavid first became aware of Kelly’s potential to become a superstar while traveling in Georgia with his wife and sons when his wife was playing country music on the radio. I noticed McDavid glanced at his wife and said, “He seems to have succeeded.”
McDavid describes Kelly as a “self-contained” artist, and Kelly was one of the most prolific songwriters of the time, writing lyrics, composing music, composing melodies, playing instruments, He testified that he was able to produce music.
Eventually, McDavid became Kelly’s business manager, handling all of his financial and business transactions, including writing checks, paying bills, buying cars, and handling insurance. McDavid testified that he didn’t want Kelly to be involved in the expense at all and expected him to handle everything.
Asked how his own duties have changed as Kelly’s career took off, McDavid said, “More money, more problems.”
McDavid said that Kelly’s tour was the most expensive part of his career and that it was his job to keep profits for Kelly, leading to a fight over tour costs, which jurors Kelly said ” I always wanted everything,” he said.
During that time, their business relationship developed into a friendship, and McDavid at one point told a jury that he considered Kelly his son.
McDavid said that Kelly was shy when he first met women, but when he became a superstar he got more attention from them and started acting like most superstars, trying to get everything he wanted. requested to
McDavid recalled that Kelly eventually started flying women to meet him, taking them to a hotel. When asked if he was referring to teenage girls, he also testified that those women were all adults.
McDavid also explained the friction that had arisen between Kelly and his former manager, Barry Hankerson, as Kelly became more and more successful. McDavid testified that the more successful Kelly was, the more time and attention he needed, while also pointing out that Hankerson became more dominant, showing up at the studio with a bodyguard as a method of intimidation. did.
As the friction between Kelly and Hankerson grew, McDavid testified that Hankerson’s role with Kelly decreased and his own role increased.
McDavid describes an incident in a Los Angeles chicken coop in 1999, in which Hankerson entered with a bodyguard and knocked over the lunch table, causing a fight with Kelly that further strained their relationship. said.
McDavid testified that he believed there was another incident at a concert in Philadelphia, and Kelly called his attorney, Jerry Margolis, and told him to fire Hankerson.
Turning to the first lawsuit Kelly faced, McDavid said he learned that Tiffany Hawkins filed a paternity lawsuit against Kelly in 1997.
McDavid testified that he learned of the allegations through Margolis, and testified during a conference call with Kelly and Margolis that Kelly told them “no way” and that he would undergo a paternity test to prove he was not the father. did.
McDavid testified that the paternity case was later dropped, but Hawkins later sued Kelly for having sex with her when she was underage. So I said I don’t believe anything she says.
“If you were going to claim that someone had sex with you when you were underage, you would think you would go to the police,” he testified.
McDavid tells Margolis that he believes Hawkins will sue Kelly to get money from him, and Margolis says such things are common and almost “the cost of doing business” as a celebrity. Told.
Margolis told him they would still pay the settlement, although she believed Kelly would be “vindicated”, but McDavid testified that the decision was confusing. , explained that even that kind of hoax could hurt Kelly and wasn’t worth fighting in public.
McDavid also recalled attending Hawkins’ deposition during that case, claiming seven hours later that Margolis had proven she was lying. He said it was clear Hawkins was “just someone trying to make money”.
McDavid testified that Hawkins’ attorney, Susan Loggans, asked Margolis what he could get and initially demanded $10 million, but agreed to a $250,000 settlement. McDavid said the settlement was relatively unimportant compared to what Kelly was making at the time.
McDavid told jurors that Hawkins’ lawsuit had influenced the way they viewed those kinds of cases, and Margolis told what it would be like if the star were successful.
After that incident, McDavid alleged that Logan’s later filed a series of “cookie cutter” lawsuits against Kelly on behalf of other women, making allegations similar to the Hawkins lawsuit, telling jurors how similar they were. He testified that he doubted the truth because
McDavid recalled that Loggans put up signs and TV commercials telling women to “call me if you want to sue R. Kelly.” He testified that these efforts discredited Logans in his eyes.
McDavid’s attorney, Bo Brindley, also cited other cases in which she alleged that in order to win a settlement, a woman was instructed to say she had sexual contact with Kelly before she turned 18. did.
McDavid said this led him to conclude that anyone who went ahead with the allegations against Kelly without going to the police was lying.
McDavid testified that he received a phone call in December 2000 from Kelly saying that he was being harassed about an inappropriate relationship with his 14-year-old granddaughter, “Jane.” McDavid testified that this was the first time he had heard of such a relationship allegation and asked Kelly if there was anything to the allegations. , “Are you crazy? This is my granddaughter. Of course, there is no truth in this.
Brindley then produced another report in which Jane herself denied the allegations, even when pressured by police. McDavid said these reports reinforced his belief that the allegations were untrue.
He was also convinced that if the allegations of improper conduct between Kelly and Jane were true, the police would come to Kelly and his team, but they didn’t.
McDavid also spoke directly about earlier testimony from Charles Freeman, saying it was false. He mentioned a criminal called Freeman who tried to blackmail Kelly.
Freeman testified that he was sent to retrieve a sex tape showing Kelly, and agreed to do so for $1 million.
When McDavid was asked why Freeman didn’t call the police for alleged extortion and extortion over the allegations about the sex tape, McDavid replied that Margolis would have ruined Kelly’s career. said he didn’t want to spread the news of the tape.
McDavid said he did not agree with the plan to pay Freeman for the tape and would rather have gone to the police. I said I needed to go with you because it’s out of the way.
McDavid testified that he was afraid Freeman would come back over and over again for the money, and Freeman did. But Kelly’s team never agreed to pay Freeman $1 million, he said.
McDavid said Freeman later gave the tape to Palladino.
McDavid said Kelly was genuinely upset and “pissed” about the sex tape accusations with Jane. said that there is
McDavid said he called Margolis about the rumors, and Margolis said Kelly should meet with Jane’s parents to make them aware of the sex tape rumors so they wouldn’t be “preempted by the media.” McDavid also testified for the first time that Margolis told him he should hire a criminal attorney.
McDavid said he set up a meeting between Kelly and Jane and her parents, but said McDavid himself did not attend. McDavid said after the meeting Kelly was calm and she felt relief, McDavid said at that point he still had no reason not to believe Kelly.
