‘I’m Fighting For My F--king Life': R. Kelly Claims He’s Being Assassinated In First Post-Arrest Interview

In his very first interview since being charged with sexually abusing four people, three of whom are underage girls, R. Kelly cried, yelled, and claimed he’s fighting for his life.

Parts of Kelly’s emotional interview with Gayle King of “CBS This Morning” ran on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The rest is scheduled to air Thursday.

He claimed that all the accusations against him are lies. Kelly also referred to himself in the third person, asking, “How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way, way past to hold somebody, let alone four, five, six, 50 you said [against their will]?”

“Use your common sense. Forget the blogs, forget how you feel about me,” Kelly said. “Hate me if you want to, love me if you want. But just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me, with my crazy past and what I’ve been through — oh right now I just think I need to be a monster, and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, and don’t let them out. Unless they need some shoes down the street.”

Much of his rant he performed while looking directly into the camera.

When King attempted to ask follow-up questions, Kelly became irate and said, “Stop it. Y’all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me!”

He then began crying, his voice cracking as he exclaimed, “I’m fighting for my f--king life.”

Kelly is out on bail from his Feb. 22 arrest in Chicago. He has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The recording artist has been trailed for decades by allegations that he violated underage girls and women and held some as virtual slaves. Kelly has consistently denied any sexual misconduct, and he was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008. Kelly’s alleged sexual misconduct captured national attention again in the wake of Lifetime’s shocking “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary, a documentary that Kelly calls full of lies during his new interview.

"[E]verybody says something bad about me. Nobody said nothin' good," Kelly said when asked about the film. "They was describing Lucifer. I'm not Lucifer. I'm a man. I make mistakes, but I'm not a devil, and by no means am I a monster."

As for the lies he claims are being made against him, he said, “I have been assassinated. I have been buried alive. But I'm alive."

Kelly also brought up his previous trial, telling King that he beat that case and that when you “beat something you beat it. You can’t double jeopardy me like that. It’s not fair.”

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for two Kelly accusers, responded to that comment on Twitter, stating, “He fails to understand that it doesn’t matter ‘how long ago’ it happened. And he also has no clue as to how ‘double jeopardy’ works.”

He also tweeted, “Key things we learned from the R. Kelly interview: 1. R Kelly is a much better singer than he is an actor; 2. He is desperate and distraught because he knows he has been caught. 3. He thinks sexual assault of young girls in the “way way past” cannot be charged. 4. He is guilty.”