R. Kelly’s Lawyer Confirms Marriage To Aaliyah, Says Kelly Had “No Idea” Of Her Age

For years, R. Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah was “alleged,” but now, Kelly’s lawyer has confirmed the past relationship. 

In an interview with Linsey Davis from Good Morning America, Steve Greenberg defended his client Kelly against the allegations in the Surviving R. Kelly docu-series that aired on Lifetime last week.

“We know what happened, and we know those things didn’t happen. The man was not operating a harem or a sex cult or holding people hostage or anything like that,” Greenberg said.

Kelly denies ever having sexual relationships with anyone under the legal age of consent. Davis asked about Kelly’s marriage to Aaliyah when the singer was just 15 years old, and Greenberg had an interesting response. He said it was true they were married, but attempted to defend his client on that point as well.

“He was married to her when she was 15. Elvis was married to Priscilla,” Greenberg said, referencing Elvis Presley and his bride Priscilla-who was 14 when they met and 21 when they married.

Davis pushed back and said “But so then 15 is not of the age of legal consent.” “Right,” Greenberg responded. “Except that my understanding is that she did not claim to be 15, and in order to get married, she had to lie about her age.” Greenberg added to Kelly has “no idea” of Aaliyah’s age.

This clips goes against what was said in the docu-series. Kelly’s former former tour manager and personal assistant, Demetrius Smith,said that Kelly knew and that he personally forged documents to get the marriage “legal.” He also stated that the reason for the marriage is because Aaliyah was allegedly pregnant.

I should also note that at the time, Aaliyah was managed by her uncle, Barry Hankerson.