Twitter has been tearing R. Kelly a new one since the 49-year-old R&B singer was spotted this past weekend in Atlanta with a new boo on his arm, 19-year-old Halle Calhoun, according to YBF.com. The happy couple was photographed partying in Atlanta over the weekend, and the news has had the Internet going ham with memes, insults and opinions of disgust.
Rumors about their relationship have been circulating for some time now, as Calhoun posted a picture of them together on her Instagram. But now, everything appears to be out in the open.
#RKelly and his rumored 19-year-old girlfriend #HalleCalhoun hit the party scene in Atlant… https://t.co/7lGVGDI9V3 pic.twitter.com/ryvRafod7Z
— YBF CHIC (@TheYBF) August 7, 2016
While Calhoun is indeed a grown-ass woman, many on social media find the almost-50-year-old’s decision to date someone so much younger than him just another reminder of the singer’s questionable past with young girls. Back in 1994, Kelly, then 27, secretly married Aaliyah in a secret ceremony when she was only 15. The marriage was annulled shortly after the release of Aaliyah’s R. Kelly-produced debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, whose title track was written by Kelly.
The marriage was later annulled, but in an interview with GQ, Kelly admitted they had a “deep friendship” and sexual relationship.
Then in 2002, the singer was charged with child pornography and accused of sexual assault after a video surfaced of a man police allege was Kelly having sex and urinating on an underage girl. The girl in the video, who was referred to by name by Kelly in the footage, was said by her family to have been 14 at the time the tape.
Kelly was indicted on child pornography charges, and that same month, in June 2002, he was arrested again after authorities searched his Florida home and discovered 12 images of an allegedly underage girl—the very same girl from the sex tape—on a digital camera inside of a towel inside of a duffel bag. An additional 12 counts of child pornography were brought against Kelly.
The 12 counts of child pornography were dropped when a judge ruled that Miami PD did not have probable cause to search Kelly’s home, and when the sex tape case came to trial, Kelly was acquitted of the charges.
Although Kelly was never charged with sexual assault and acquitted on child pornography charges, the singer has still been viewed as a pedophile in the court of public opinion. And Twitter showed no mercy.
*See R Kelly Trending*
Thinking He Drop an Album Instead He Got a 19 Year Old Girlfriend pic.twitter.com/X5fA1KPXO7
— Blessings Coming (@PthaGoat8) August 8, 2016
?Never Forget?
R Kelly dating a 19 year old? Well, that's no surprise according to this legendary clip. pic.twitter.com/zwzANkipNO
— Hardys Closet® (@HardysCloset) August 8, 2016
R Kelly is a sick man. I don't care he gave us the Ignition Remix
— Flex Luthor (@neckofdwoods) August 8, 2016
Never forget. R. Kelly illegally married Aaliyah when she was 15 and he executively produced her hit song "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number".
— NUFF$AID (@nuffsaidNY) August 8, 2016