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Benzino has defended R. Kelly, stating he shouldn’t have gotten so much jail time for sexual abuse charges, leaving social media to blast his stance online.
As R. Kelly continues to serve time in prison for child sex abuse charges including sex trafficking, Benzino has turned heads with asking why the disgraced singer is receiving such harsh punishment. The rapper and former co-founder of The Source voiced his opinion during the April 24 episode of his We In Miami Podcast. At the 12-minute mark of the episode, Benzino cites the fact that the age of consent in most states in America is 16. “Again, the legal age is 16 years old,” Benzino said. “Does that make it right if a n—a does it? Yes or no?” After everyone collectively agreed it was “wrong” and “disgusting,” Benzino continued.
“Alright but it’s legal in America,” Benzino said. “Why the f—k is R. Kelly doing all this time? You know why because they’re 14 and 13. Two years younger. But you don’t think that the people who cleared it for 16 years old didn’t know that they were f—king with 13, 14-year-olds, too. For the age that young to be the law, you already know they goin’ under that. I’m not condoning with little girls, it’s sick. Alright, it’s sick, but I don’t think R. Kelly should rot in jail for 30 years either.”
The video went viral, with some bizarrely agreeing with Benzino, but many more blasting the Boston native for his comments given the heinous nature of R. Kelly’s crimes. Since the clip hit social media on Wednesday (May 1), the fallout has been constant with Benzino’s daughter Coi Leray emphatically distancing herself from him in posts on X, formerly Twitter. “I want everybody to know I want nothing to do with anything my father has going on,” she wrote. “I haven’t spoken to him in over a year and I don’t condone or respect any of them interviews he got going on. I don’t respect his decisions and I really want nothing to do with him please don’t even think of me when you see him.”
Check out some of the more bristling comments directed at Benzino below.