R. Kelly’s Former Hairdresser Comes Forward With Sexual Abuse Allegations
Back in February, R. Kelly was arrested with ten charges of criminal sexual abuse. Tomorrow, Lanita Carter, who was previously identified only as L.C., will speak publicly for the first time about her sexual assault allegations against Kelly in an interview with CBS This Morning. Carter is revealed to be Kelly’s former hairdresser. She sat down with CBS’s Jericka Duncan to discuss her decision to share her identity after being an anonymous accuser in the criminal case.
“This is a release,” she says in a clip from the interview. “I’ve been carrying this since 2003. I have had to sit on a public bus and watch public conversation: ‘Did you hear about what they did with R. Kelly? They need to leave that man alone.’ And I can’t stand up for myself.”
“Today I say: no more,” she goes on. “You can talk about me. You can not like what I’m sayin’ about your favorite singer. But this is my life… This is my truth. This is what I have. If I die tomorrow, I know that I told the truth. I know that I want to be the best person I could be. I know that I want to help people. If it’s anybody that want to speak [their] truth, it’s hard when it’s a celebrity. It’s not easy. It’s not easy if it wasn’t a celebrity. It makes it 10 times worse.”
Carter previously alleged that Kelly exposed himself to her and tried to force her into oral sex when she was 24. The documents detailing the charges note that Kelly’s DNA profile was matched to a semen sample found on a shirt of Carter’s.
Gayle King interviewed Kelly on CBS This Morning earlier this month, following his arrest. Kelly denied the allegations. Watch a clip from Carter’s interview below.