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.
Cheddar's Michelle Castillo looks into the growth in cigar smoking that took place during the pandemic, and how supply chain woes have come to hurt this industry as well.
He tried to catch them all. A man from Georgia has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for using COVID relief to buy a rare Charizard Pokemon Card with $58,000 of the loan money. The collectible has now become government property.
For Fadia Kader, the global head of strategic and media partnerships at social audio app Clubhouse, it's about pushing culture forward and connecting people with the biggest and brightest stars in music and entertainment.
Lie detectors don't work. In fact, the science behind them has been increasingly scrutinized since their inception. But they’re still being used in high-stakes scenarios with real consequences.
So, if lie detectors don’t actually work, why do we still use them?
Soaring gas prices, South Korea's presidential election is getting nasty, and it was a big night for country music! Here is all the news you Need2Know for Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
Country music fans watching the Academy of Country Music Awards tonight will be doing so in a different way than years past. The ceremony will not be broadcast on network TV and will air exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. This will be the first time a major awards show will be live-streamed exclusively on a subscription video-on-demand platform. Shelly Kramer, co-founder and lead analyst of Futurum Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Atomic bills itself as an investing API that allows fintechs and banks to easily integrate investing into their products by bringing the power of investing to everyone, with no account minimums. In November, the company announced its launch along with a $25 million Series A funding round. David Dindi, co-founder and CEO of Atomic, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Derek Shearer, former U.S. Ambassador to Finland and contributing writer for Washington Monthly, joins Cheddar News to discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
