Idolator

Former Slate/Salon/SF Weekly writer and non-Rolling Stone Bill Wyman is using his newish blog as a stage from which he makes it clear that R. Kelly should be seen as a chronic child molester. Admittedly, I've laughed at the Chappelle's Show sketches, scoffed at Jim DeRogatis' extensive coverage, and purchased every new R. Kelly album on street date, so I've obviously stuck with the "eccentric genius" camp. But after reading the 40 bullet points Wyman's laid out so far, it might be time for me to switch sides.

Each point in the so far three-part series doesn't necessarily merit its own space, and none of the news is particularly new (which Wyman admits, stating the "Sexfacts" are "based on reporting from the few reputable outlets that have bothered to tell people about him"). But when everything is laid out on one page, the stomach churns a bit.

A few selections:

• In one of his infrequent interviews, this one on Primetime Live, Kelly was asked about these predilections. "For an older man to have sex with an underage girl—do you see that as immoral?" he was asked. "Rephrase the question," Kelly said. The reporter said: "For an older man to have sex with an underage girl—someone under 17—do you see that as immoral, if they're in love?" Kelly responded: "I really can't be the judge of that."

• In another interview, Kelly said: "I'm not who these people are talking about. I'm not a criminal. I think I'm the only one that can understand how [Osama] bin Laden feels [...] being someone that's hunted down or being someone that's constantly made to look like the devil himself."

• In 1998, Kelly picked up a 16-year-old girl at the so-called "Rock 'n' Roll McDonalds" in Chicago, just north of the Loop. They had an affair that lasted until she told him she was pregnant, GQ reported; one of Kelly's associates drove her to the abortion clinic.

• After the notorious videotape came to light, R. Kelly's longtime publicist, Regina Daniels, had this to say when asked about the child sex charges: "There are a lot of people who are very much a player-hater of Robert. . . . All I can go by is the years that I've worked with him and what I've seen. I'm not saying anybody is beyond doing what I don't see, but I'm not looking under the covers with him. All I know is that he has presented himself to me to be a respectable person and that is what I can go by."

If you want the lurid "urinating in the mouth" details, you'll have to go to Wyman's site, because frankly, it seems too early to be posting anything of that sort. Nonetheless, I found myself wondering what revelation would finally push me over the edge with Kells. Fortunately or unfortunately, with his oft-delayed trial approaching, I might find out what my "Sexfacts" threshold is, all the while keeping my enjoyment of the remix to "Ignition" on the other side of the scale. Is there a point where you have to judge the artist alongside the art? Trapped In The Closet counts as art, right?

R. Kelly SexFacts™! [Hitsville]
More R. Kelly SexFacts™! [Hitsville]
R. Kelly SexFacts™, Part 3: The Godfather Who Shagged Me! [Hitsville]