Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Where Is R. Kelly's Partner Joycelyn Savage Now?
Joycelyn Savage has long defended R. Kelly, even though her parents have publicly denounced his behavior.
R. Kelly’s longtime live-in girlfriend and apparent fiancée Joycelyn Savage has been an interesting figure in the sex trafficking case.
She infamously defended Kelly in 2019 during a “CBS This Morning” interview with Gayle King. In that interview, which took place not long after Kelly’s arrest, she said that she and Kelly had “a very strong relationship,” and said that her parents, who have been vocal critics of Kelly, were “basically out here trying to get money and scam.”
But later that year, Savage allegedly announced on Instagram that she would be sharing her story about her life with Kelly via updates on Patreon, a platform where subscribers pay for content. That Patreon account then accused Kelly, 55, of being controlling and abusive, preying on Savage in 2015 when she was just 17. Patreon later took down the account claiming "potential impersonation" concerns after Savage stated she wasn't the source of the accusations.
Earlier this year, the 26-year-old told the New York Post that “everything will be answered in my book.” The memoir, “Love and Joy of Robert,” came out in August 2022. In the short self-published piece, she wrote that she was pregnant with Kelly's child — a claim that his attorney subsequently denied, according to Variety.
During Kelly’s July sentencing, Savage referred to herself as his fiancée in a letter to the sentencing judge. In that letter, she maintained that she is not a victim and that she and the singer are deeply in love, according to InTouchWeekly. While she asked for leniency, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years for sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, racketeering and sex trafficking.
Joycelyn and her parents continue to remain estranged, according to InTouchWeekly. Both parents Timothy and Jonjelyn, as well as other survivors, participate in the final chapter of "Surviving R. Kelly," which debuted on Lifetime on Jan. 2.
In the docuseries, the Savages claim that their daughter gave up her promising college career to be with Kelly and that they have been trying to get Joycelyn to leave the singer since 2016, when she was a college freshman.
Throughout Kelly’s trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly sexually abused numerous young women and men, some of whom were underage, over a nearly two-decade period. Furthermore, they said he'd led an enterprise of managers, bodyguards and other employees who recruited the victims for him while giving them false hope that he’d help them with their entertainment careers. For years, Kelly was repeatedly accused of holding multiple women against their will — and treating many like he owned them — at his home for his own sexual gratification.
In September 2022, a Chicago jury found the R&B singer guilty of three counts of child pornography and three counts of child enticement. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for February.
The singer also faces separate state sex crimes trials in Illinois and Minnesota and has pleaded not guilty to those cases. Kelly was previously accused of child pornography in Chicago in 2002; he was ultimately acquitted in 2008.
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and will not be eligible for parole until he's at least 80, according to the AP.
