Posted by Disgusted on May 25, 2008 at 14:07:31:
This kind of stuff never ceases to amaze me. The black community continues to make itself look dumber and dumber to me. If they ever want to get ahead, they need to stop this crap. The guy's accused of some serious stuff and the proof was good enough that it caused a case to come forward. Shouldn't your "vow of support"s be reserved for much more important things? This is why race will always divide this city and this country. Read for yourself.
R. Kelly: From one court to another
temper tantrum R&B star throws basketball at SouthtownStar reporter during midnight workout
May 9, 2008
By KIM JANSSEN, Staff Writer
For five turbulent years, the regular midnight basketball game at Markham's Harold Murphy Recreation Center provided R. Kelly's shelter from the stresses of the world.
But with his repeatedly delayed child pornography trial likely less than 48 hours away - and while playing what may prove to be one of his last games as a free man - Kelly's temper snapped early Thursday morning.
In a possible sign the pressures of the case are cracking the cool of Olympia Fields' most famous resident, Kelly angrily hurled a basketball at a SouthtownStar reporter who asked to watch the game.
Then a towering, burly bodyguard escorted the reporter and a photographer from the building.
The 41-year-old R&B star has been a passionate basketball fan since his South Side childhood. He scored his best-known hit, "I Believe I Can Fly," for the soundtrack to the Michael Jordan movie "Space Jam."
Under an unusual arrangement, Kelly leases the publicly funded Harold Murphy center almost every weekday night between midnight and 2 a.m. to play hoops with his entourage, leaving his $460,000 Maybach sedan parked outside.
Park district officials said they gave special permission for the late night games. Kelly pays $90 an hour for the court and the watchful eyes of two park district cops.
Though Kelly's game is limited, an insider who has played against Kelly says the crooner insists on playing point guard and "hogs the ball and shoots all the time."
"His team wins every night or he gets upset," the insider said.
Thursday morning, Kelly, wearing a headband, shorts and a tank top, stopped the game when he saw a reporter and photographer enter the gym. As friends, including two young women and a Markham Park District police officer looked on, Kelly lobbed the ball at the reporter, stood with his hands on his hips and motioned for someone to eject the unwelcome visitors.
"This is a private event," one staff member said as the doors slammed shut.
Kelly's media fixer, New York-based Allan Mayer, said Kelly uses the games to "blow off steam."
"R. Kelly has been looking forward to his day in court for a long time," Mayer said.
Watchful eyes
But Kelly's demeanor will be scrutinized in the coming weeks as observers throughout the world look for clues to his state of mind, said Glenn Selig, the public relations guru who's advised Drew Peterson in recent months.
"If I was representing (Kelly), first off I'd remind him that every step he takes will be analyzed, that people want to see someone who is not arrogant but who recognizes they are going into a very serious situation.
"The burden of proof in a courtroom is quite rightly 'beyond a reasonable doubt,' but unfortunately, in the court of public opinion it is much, much lower."
Kelly has continued to be remarkably successful, scoring a string of sexually charged hits, including the campy hip-hop opera "Trapped In The Closet," after a video emerged in 2002 allegedly showing him urinating on a 14-year-old girl.
"Fans don't want to believe that their heroes are guilty of crimes, or they don't want to know, and as long as there is doubt about his guilt and he is successful, people will want to work with him," Selig said, adding that short of involving an even younger girl, the allegations could not be more potentially harmful to Kelly's career.
Bionce Foxx, a disc jockey whose close ties to R. Kelly mean WGCI-FM (107.5) has been granted exclusive previews of his songs since the scandal broke, declined to discuss the case against Kelly but said Chicago remains "a bedrock of support" for the star.
"There are his thousands of his fans who call up every day," Foxx said.
'Golden' memories for fans
Fan groups supporting R. Kelly outnumber those opposing him approximately two to one on the social networking Web site Facebook, where the case has become a joke for many, with group names like "R. Kelly can fly," "I wanna be trapped in a closet with R. Kelly," and "R. Kelly should be trapped in a closet" vying for attention.
Sara Mulligan, a California State University student who started a group with 50 members called "R. Kelly needs to stop giving minors golden showers," admits that she finds the case amusing despite the seriousness of the charges.
Like many, she already has decided Kelly is guilty.
"I grew up loving 'Space Jam,' but he's a jerk," Mulligan said.
But, Selig said, "the media and parts of the public may have already made up their minds, but the beauty of the justice system is that only the facts will be dealt with in court.
"Until the trial starts, we don't know what all of those are."
Kim Janssen can be reached at kjanssen@southtownstar.com or (708) 633-5998.