Sparkle Accuses Niece of Lying on Stand at R. Kelly Trial

Sparkle is shown in Surviving R. Kelly. (Credit: Lifetime)

R&B singer Sparkle says some of the testimony her niece gave last week in R. Kelly’s federal child pornography and conspiracy trial was an “absolute f–king lie.”

“I’m letting those who really know,  support and love me, that this is a family feud,” Sparkle said in a video on Instagram.

The singer’s niece, identified by the pseudonym “Jane,” told the court she was the 14-year-old girl shown in the sex tape that led to Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial. The “Ignition” singer was acquitted in that case after the victim shown in the video refused to testify.

Now 37, the woman agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors, and said in the Chicago courtroom that she had sex with the disgraced singer “hundreds” of times before she turned 18.

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Chicago native Sparkle was an R. Kelly protégé in the 1990s.

Jane testified that she was 12 or 13 when Sparkle introduced her to the Grammy-winning singer at a gospel concert for her church. Jane had aspirations of becoming a professional singer. She testified that her aunt encouraged her to become closer to Kelly.

“She told me that I should ask him to be my godfather,” the woman said, according to CNN. Jane revealed Kelly “chuckled” about becoming her godfather, but agreed.

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Jane told the court after Kelly took on the role as her godfather, he began having explicit phone conversations with her and within weeks, their relationship became sexual. She added that her parents would let her stay overnight at the singer’s home. Kelly was about 30 years old at the time.

“They would pretty much drop me off and then leave,” Jane testified. She also said Sparkle, real name Stephanie Edwards, encouraged her to rub Kelly’s head and sit on his lap.

Following Jane’s testimony, Sparkle took to social media to dispute some of her niece’s claims. In an Instagram Live video captured by The Neighborhood Talk, Sparkle said she wanted to “put a few things in context.”

The “Be Careful” singer alleged that her niece lied on the stand and said the lies were orchestrated by her sister.

“Knowing that there’s no right answer to explain their ongoing actions and years of support for Robert [Kelly] once learning about that tape, the clear plan is to try to take me down because I’ve been so vocal,” she said. “I know that there was some anger and resentment because of my stance.”

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Sparkle read a lengthy statement from her phone and said she introduced her sister, brother-in-law (who played guitar), and niece to Kelly at CRC Studios in 1997, not at a church concert, refuting her niece’s claim.  Sparkle said she made the introduction “in hopes of landing my niece a career.”

“Not all that you heard yesterday from my niece is true. I don’t want to hinder this legal process, but to testify that I had my niece sit on Robert’s lap and rub his head and have her ask him to be her godfather is an absolute f–king lie,” she stated. “You all cannot imagine the hurt that comes from pain caused by the people that you live and are willing to die for.”

She continued, “Robert and I were never in a romantic relationship.”

Sparkle appeared in the 2019 Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly. In the trailer for the series, she tearfully said: “I should have never introduced my family to him… He ain’t a monster by himself. It took some help.”


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.