In this June 26, 2019 file photo, R&B singer R. Kelly, center, arrives at the Leighton Criminal Court building for an arraignment on sex-related felonies in Chicago. Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, against three men accused of threatening and intimidating women who have accused Kelly of abuse, including one man suspected of setting fire to a vehicle in Florida. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)
Federal prosecutors announced charges Wednesday against three men accused of threatening and intimidating women who have accused R&B singer R. Kelly of abuse, including one man suspected of setting fire to a vehicle in Florida.
A longtime friend of the indicted singer offered to pay a victim $500,000 to keep her from cooperating in Kelly's prosecution, authorities said, while a manager and adviser of Kelly threatened to release sexually explicit photographs of a woman who sued Kelly.
The Grammy-award winning musician has denied ever abusing anyone and has pleaded not guilty to dozens of state and federal sexual misconduct charges in Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.
The charges range from sexual assault to heading a racketeering scheme aimed at supplying Kelly with girls. Kelly also is accused of having unprotected sex with a girl in 2015 without disclosing he had herpes.
Prosecutors described a third man accused of intimidating witnesses as being related to a former Kelly publicist. They said Michael Williams, 37, of Valdosta, Georgia, traveled to Florida in June and set fire to an SUV parked outside a residence where one of Kelly's victims was staying.
Williams also conducted Internet searches for "the detonation properties of fertilizer and diesel fuel, witness intimidation and witness tampering and countries that do not have extradition with the United States," authorities said in a news release.
A message was sent to Williams' attorney seeking comment.
Last year, CD sales grew for the first time since 2004, according to a new Recording Industry Association of America report. CDs were a leading format in the music industry in the 1990s when Spice Girls and TLC had us groovin'. If it feels like you've been hearing more golden oldies lately, you aren't alone. Classic music is having a serious moment, and it isn't likely to change any time soon. Baker Machado takes a closer look at what's driving this shift in the industry.
Lisa Whalen, managing director of automotive and mobility analysis at Morning Consult, joins Cheddar News to discuss Uber and Lyft's decision to enact price surcharges on riders.
A New Zealand couple who believed they had dug up the world’s largest potato had their dreams turned to mash after Guinness World Records wrote to say that scientific testing had found it wasn’t, in fact, a potato after all.
The Eiffel Tower has grown by six meters (nearly 20 feet) after engineers hoisted a new communications antenna at the very top of France’s most iconic landmark.
Two years into the pandemic, many of us have regained a sense of normalcy. However, those in the healthcare industry are still confronting the virus every day, dealing with the physical, mental and psychological stress of the ongoing pandemic. Ben Mirtes, CFO of Ingenovis Health and Lydia Mobley, a travel nurse with Faststaff, who has spent the last two years going from hotspot to hotspot, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to reflect on their experiences in healthcare, and discuss why they are optimistic about a path forward.
Catching you up on what you Need to Know on March 16, 2022, with updates on Ukraine and Russia, a container ship gets stuck in the Chesapeake Bay, Disney employees stage a walkout over the "Don't Say Gay" law in Florida, and NASA completes its first spacewalk of 2022.
Janet Balis, EY Marketing Practice Leader, joins Cheddar News at South by Southwest to break down what exactly the metaverse is, how brands can start to break into this experience, and why to keep the digital divide in mind as the metaverse grows.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the U.S. Congress today, enough of changing our clocks for Daylight Savings, and the Eiffel Tower gets a few feet taller. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
