Sparkle Admits She Once Thought R. Kelly and Aaliyah Marriage Was a Hoax
Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards has faced some backlash from folks who hold her partially responsible for her then-14-year-old niece's alleged appearance in R. Kelly's 2002 sex tape. Now she's stepped forth to speak on the criticism, which she feels was unfair. In one of the more shocking moments, she also admits that she didn't believe the singer had once married a 15-year-old Aaliyah.
In a Tuesday (Jan. 8) interview with SiriusXM host Clay Cane, the R&B singer, who appeared in Lifetime's harrowing Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, speaks on the way a bit of naiveté played a role in her struggle to believe allegations against Kelly.
"Who thought that was real? You know what I mean I thought that was a hoax that that's not real, you know?" Sparkle said. "That was my naiveté of thinking that it wasn't real because like again, Barry Hankerson was there. This shouldn't and couldn't have happened. I'm thinking, 'Now this is a hoax. [Aaliyah is] only 15. Oh, this is nothing. He can't marry a young girl.' So, you know, didn't think anything of it. [...] Well, after I saw the marriage certificate and I was like, OK, maybe there's something to it. But again, I'm thinking the uncle was there, the parents are there. This can't be."
She also confirms that she had no involvement with Aaliyah's debut album Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number despite Kelly's work on the project. However, that hasn't stopped viewers from accusing her of looking the other way when it came to singer's alleged sexual abuse.
"Like, hear me: I did not know," Sparkle asserted. "Had I known when it first jumped off, I would have reacted the same way I reacted when I did know."
Listen to Sparkle plead her case below.
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