What Gayle King Thinks About R. Kelly’s Ex-Girlfriend, Azriel Clary

Now that R. Kelly’s former girlfriend, Azriel Clary, has split with the embattled singer, she’s spoken out about her time what really happened during their longterm relationship. Clary moved in with Kelly and began dating him when she was just 17-years-old and he was 48-years-old. Her parents claimed that she, along with other women, were in a sexual cult under Kelly’s control and isolated from her loved ones as laid out in Surviving R. Kelly. 

Clary ended her relationship with Kelly at the end of 2019. She denied the accusations against him during an interview with Gayle King but has since changed her tune. King recently spoke about Clary’s change of heart. 

Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage appear on CBS This Morning With Gayle King

In March of 2019, R. Kelly appeared on CBS This Morning to refute the claims against him made in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. Kelly denied that he had any inappropriate or sexual relationships or encounters with underage girls. He did admit that he was in relationships with both Clary and Savage but that it was consensual. 

Clary and Savage sat down with King and both claimed they were willing participants in their relationships with Kelly. They claimed they had no contact with their family members due to their own merit and remained distant from them because their parents were extortionists. 

Clary and Savage admitted to living with Kelly and defended the singer. They alleged they were happy in their relationship with Kelly and were in love. They refused to answer any questions regarding whether or not the two engaged in intimate acts with one another but acknowledged that they all three spent time together and were like a “family.”

Gayle King says she’s not surprised that Azriel Clary says she lied in interview

King never negatively reacted to Clary’s temperament during the interview. Clary’s parents appeared in a later interview to dispute their daughter’s claims that they were attempting to extort Kelly. They also insisted that Azriel was the driving force behind her aspiring singing career, despite her claiming it was her parents forcing her to sing against her will. 

The Clary’s also offered up an apology to King for Azriel’s behavior and demeanor towards her and insisted that their daughter was brainwashed and trained by Kelly. 

After Azriel left Kelly and reunited with her family, she later admitted that she and Savage were coached on what to say to King during their interview. She expressed guilt in her interview with The UK Sun for lying in the interview. She also alleged that she was a victim of Kelly’s physical, sexual and emotional abuse and manipulation over their five-year relationship.

When King heard of Azriel’s admission, she was not surprised. 

“I think that she’s very young and we really just want her to be okay,” King told TMZ. “I am not surprised that she is saying that she wasn’t telling the truth. Now I just want her to be okay. I really do…and what whatever it takes to get that.”

Almost immediately after her interview with Azriel and Savage, King spoke on CBS This Morning to her co-hosts and expressed her concerns with Kelly being present during the interview with the two women. She said that whenever the women would speak, Kelly would cough loudly as if to get their attention and notify them that he was in the room. 

King also revealed that Kelly was supposed to be absent during the segment with Azriel and Clary but did not follow the agreed-upon terms and showed up anyway.