R. Kelly openly groomed teenage victims while on trial for child pornography – a trial based on sex tapes that were once sold at Tower Records. He wrote a song designed to help Michael Jackson turn attention away from his own troubling allegations, and he wrote that song while he was illegally married to a 15-year old. That marriage eventually brought about his downfall. But not before R. Kelly went on a 20-year reign of terror – all conducted in plain sight while he was one of the biggest R&B artists in the world.This episode contains themes that may be disturbing to some listeners, including sexual assault, child sexual assault, and domestic violence.To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at www.disgracelandpod.com.To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at disgracelandpod.com/membership.Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - GET THE NEWSLETTERFollow Jake and DISGRACELAND:InstagramYouTubeX (formerly Twitter) Facebook Fan GroupTikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices