R. Kelly's Hairstylist: Assault Started With Request for Massage

Lanita Carter speaks out publicly for first time
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2019 4:14 PM CDT

One of the four alleged victims of R. Kelly whose accusations led to his arrest in February is speaking out publicly for the first time. Lanita Carter tells CBS News in an interview that aired Thursday she was Kelly's hairstylist for more than a year with no issues, until one day in 2003 when the singer asked for a massage as she was braiding his hair. Carter, who was 24 at the time, declined, and then she says Kelly pulled her by her own braid and demanded oral sex. She says authorities, whom she contacted that day, later found his semen on the shirt she had been wearing. But charges were not filed at the time, for reasons that are unclear, and Carter ultimately signed a $650,000 settlement with Kelly. This year, however, she responded to Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's call for victims to come forward. The other three victims involved in the case against Kelly, two of whom were minors when the alleged assaults occurred, have not been named publicly, CNN reports. (More R. Kelly stories.)

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