R. Kelly trial: Former assistant reveals how the singer punished those who broke ‘Rob’s rules’

On 31 August, R. Kelly’s former personal assistant Suzette Mayweather was asked to take the stand to testify against the singer. She told the jury horrific details about how Kelly used to punish people who broke his strict rules.

Mayweather first met Kelly in the 1990s but only started working for him in 2015. Prior to their working relationship she said she considered him a brother and it was only after that she saw what he was truly like. She also admitted feeling responsible for following and upholding the tight regulations he had in his household.

Kelly’s rules

She recounts an occasion in which Kelly discovered that one of his girlfriends, Dominique, was talking to Mayweather about their relationship. Mayweather took the blame to shield Dominique from the repercussions and said that was the first time she saw the singer really furious. She said in court:

It was the first time I had ever seen Rob this upset.

It wasn’t the tone. It was the look in his eyes.

As punishment for her behaviour, Mayweather was issued a fine which came out of her paycheck, and was also asked to give Kelly a written apology. The rules in his household were so stringent that Mayweather got warnings on several occasions for just speaking to the girls and letting them go to the bathroom without Kelly’s permission.

Another incident she spoke about, as reported by Reuters, took place during a birthday party in January 2016. Kelly was outraged when his female attendees were ‘twerking for cake’ and demanded that they physically fight each other as punishment.

Another testimony

On the same day, another one of Kelly’s victims gave her testimony and she went by the name ‘Faith’. She said that although she was not a fan of the R&B singer, she still got swept into his dangerous game when she was 19 years old.

She and her sister were invited to his concert and given a hotel room to stay in for the night. When she woke up the next morning, Kelly came to her room and demanded to have sex even though she was unwilling. When asked if he wore protection or told her that he had herpes, she responded ‘No, he did not.’