Chilling report alleges singer R. Kelly is keeping women locked up, 'brainwashing' them

A disturbing investigative report by BuzzFeed News suggests that singer R. Kelly is keeping young women against their will in a kind of "cult" in which he controls everything from how they dress to what they eat. Relying on interviews with the parents of the "brainwashed" women, as well as three former members of Kelly's group, BuzzFeed News describes Kelly luring young women in with the promise of affection or mentorship, only to abuse them and keep them from contacting their families.

"[Former members of Kelly's inner circle] said six women live in properties rented by Kelly in Chicago and the Atlanta suburbs, and he controls every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records," BuzzFeed News writes.

Women think "this is R. Kelly, I'm going to live a lavish lifestyle," explained Kelly's former personal assistant, Cheryl Mack. "No. You have to ask for food. You have to ask to go use the bathroom. … [Kelly] is a master at mind-control. ... He is a puppet master."

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Women who break Kelly's "rules" are allegedly punished. Another woman, [Kitti] Jones, claimed that "Kelly held her against a tree and slapped her outside of a Subway sandwich shop in spring 2013 because she had been too friendly with the male cashier there."

Police are unable to intervene due to the fact that the women living with Kelly are all over the age of consent and well-being checks in the past have resulted in the women saying they are "fine" and don't want to be bothered.

Kelly has faced legal trouble in the past due to accusations about his sexual conduct, including a 2008 acquittal on 14 charges of making child pornography with a 14-year-old girl. Kelly's lawyer, Linda Mensch, said in a statement that Kelly "works hard to become the best person and artist he can be" and "[l]ike all of us, Mr. Kelly deserves a personal life. Please respect that."

Read the full chilling report at BuzzFeed News.