22-Year-Old Azriel Clary, R. Kelly's Ex-Girlfriend, Back With Family After Explosive Fight At Trump Tower In Chicago
She's now back with her family.
Getty For years, rumors circulated about R&B singer R Kelly. Unfortunately, Kelly's rumored and alleged predatory behavior towards young women has always been the sword of Damocles that hangs above his head, threatening his life and his career.
With just one well-researched and well-received documentary, Kelly finally ran out of places to hide. And one of two women were at the center of it all.
Who is Azriel Clary? In March 2019, she spoke out for the first time about the years she spent with Kelly, and what said wasn't what most people were expecting from the then-22-year-old.
On January 8, 2020, Clary was involved in a physical altercation with Joycelyn Savage, another of R. Kelly's girlfriends.
Savage was charged with domestic battery and will appear in court in a few weeks.
But since R. Kelly's arrest, Clary has since returned home to her family. Here's everything we know about her relationship with R. Kelly, the allegations against him, and how she's returning to her normal life.
1. Who is Azriel Clary? She met R. Kelly when she was a teenager.
When Azriel was just 17 years old, she met R. Kelly for the first time. It was a heady experience and a tremendous opportunity for the young would-be singer, one that no one could deny, but traveling with the singer on tour (at his behest) seemed a little untoward for a teenager girl.
That is, until Valerie Denise Payton. To soothe the worried minds of Azriel parents, Alice and Angelo, Kelly introduced Denise, explaining that she worked for the record label, and that the entire time their daughter Azriel was on the tour, she wouldn't just be looked after by Payton, she would share a room with her, too.
This wasn't the case. In March 2019, it had been four years since Clary went to join R. Kelly's tour, and her parents didn't hear from her at all.
2. Clary refuted the charges against R. Kelly.
In January 2019, Lifetime released a documentary about Kelly, called Surviving R. Kelly, which chronicled his predatory and abusive behavior towards young women over the course of his career.
According to Lifetime, the film contained "more than 50 interviews with those who include civil rights activist Tarana Burke, musicians John Legend and Sparkle, talk show host Wendy Williams, and R. Kelly's family members shed light on the singer's controversial past."
Clary, along with another one of Kelly's girlfriends, Jocelyn Savage, made the difficult decision to speak out in defense of Kelly following the epic fallout that came once the documentary was released and people got to hear those eyewitness accounts for themselves.
Gayle King interviewed the two women, and what they say about the way Kelly has treated them was a far cry from the documentary alleges.
According to Clary, her relationship was real, healthy, and it was her parents who were the dangerous ones. “I’m crying because you guys don’t know the truth,” Clary said to King. “You guys are believing some f***ing facade that our parents are saying. This is all f***ing lies for money, and if you can’t see that, you’re ignorant and you’re stupid.”
3. Her parents later spoke out.
Many people have been savage in their attacks on the Clary family and the other families who seemingly "allowed" their children to go and live with R. Kelly. But Clary's family was open about the mistakes they made along the way.
When asked if they bore any of the responsibility for the situation, Angelo answered candidly, saying, "I take full responsibility, we never denied responsibility. I feel like I failed my daughter because I should have saw different signs... I should have saw the change in my baby girl instead of the love that we instilled in her, that she was showing us and putting on a charade. So guess what? We can take responsibility. But to the world, how much responsibility did R. Kelly take?”
4. There was an alleged suicide pact in the 'sex cult.'
As more and more attention came Kelly's way, it wasn't surprising to hear that situation shared by the women rumored to be in his "sex cult" took a turn from the dramatic. In a call made to Chicago PD, an anonymous woman said, "Four women who are the victims of R Kelly are going to take part in a suicide pact in his Trump Tower Condo."
Police sped to the scene and performed a wellness check, after which they released the following statement: "Police received a call from an out of state anonymous caller stating that people at the location planned to carry out a suicide pact. Police on scene conducting a wellness check and it is not a bonafide incident.”
R. Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg, didn't mince words about the entire ordeal, saying, “It is offensive that anyone gives this any credibility.”
5. Other girlfriends of R. Kelly have spoken out about the allegations.
Lizzette Martinez is a former "girlfriend" of Kelly's who isn't afraid to share her story, partially because she believes that the women who lived with R. Kelly before his incarceration were in desperate need of help. In her comments, she didn't appear surprised to hear that a suicide pact was in place because Kelly's mentioned it before.
“I was the beginning of the predatory behavior. I was... I met him after he married Aaliyah. I had it bad but what I hear today is that he’s taking this to a whole other level and I’m so worried about the young women in the house,” Martinez said.
“I mean my anxiety is constantly through the roof because I hear the parents, I hear there’s a plan in place. That he’s put it in place that if something goes down they’re all going to take pills and kill… I just can’t. I just don’t understand it and I’m so worried about them. It just breaks my heart. I’m so angry with him,” she added.
6. Clary was recently involved in an altercation with Savage.
On January 8, 2020, R. Kelly's 53rd birthday, police were called to Trump Tower in Chicago. They were responding to a call of two women who were involved in a fight, later revealed to be Joycelyn Savage, 24, and Azriel Clary, 22.
What began as just an exchange of words turned physical, when Savage allegedly struck Clary in the face. Though someone eventually separated them, Clary was taken to the hospital, and Savage turned herself in. She's since been charged with domestic battery.
The fight was filmed and put on Instagram Live and began after Clary accused Savage of sleeping with her when she was just a minor. Clary then threatened to expose her experiences with R. Kelly.
7. Clary's now back with her family.
On January 10, Alice Clary, Azriel’s mother, confirmed that her daughter is back home with them.
“The battle is won because she’s still here, she’s still alive, she’s still breathing and though she lost a few years of her life, she’s still here to tell her story. Because I chose not to keep her secluded in her life, she’s here now and we’re able to say the victory is won because she finally came to her senses and she’s back home with her family,” Alice said.
According to Alice, Azriel is “hurt” and explained that her maturity leant itself to the decision to break up with R. Kelly. She added, “Everybody has something to say. She was 17 when she left. Now she’s 22, but guess what? She’s had problems for the last few years. She may have done things as far as being grown physically as a young woman, but mentally, no. She still has the mental capacity of a 17-year-old because he kept her stagnated for years and didn’t let her be with her family.”
Azriel’s father, Angelo Clary, has since made posts on his Instagram showing a reunited family.
He also made comments about the situation, saying, “Y’all can say what you want, but ain’t nobody been through the experience but her. Nobody’s been through that experience but Joy. This is a serious situation for a lot of these young, black women that have been caught in this situation with this man who really took advantage of a bunch of young, black females.”
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. Her work focuses on relationships, pop culture and news. For more of her work, check out her Tumblr.