After coming out publicly as a transgender boy last month, Jay Kelly, the soon-to-be 14-year-old son of R&B singer R. Kelly, told his followers on Ask.fm that he's received an outpouring of support. Meanwhile, his famous dad hadn't said anything.
Then on Monday, R. Kelly was asked directly what he thought of his son's decision to go public by a radio DJ with Chicago's WGCI. Asked to address the "report of [his] daughter becoming [his] son," Kelly pushed back.
"You don't really wanna open it up by saying my daughter is becoming my son, because if that were true -- don't even give the blogs that kind of credit. You know what I'm saying? Real talk."
In the end, Kelly said he didn't want to address the news and implied that the report was inaccurate in some way. "As far as that's concerned, always believe what you see -- with your own eyes that is," he told the hosts. "Always believe what you see. That's the best way to go about this business. I've heard a lot of things about a lot of people, and it was never true."
More broadly, Kelly expressed his love for all of his kids: "You save money so your kids can go to college. No matter what they are or who they are, they are still your kids, you love them. You got to support them. ... At the end of the day it's not about me no more. It's about three lovely, lovely kids that I am in love with and that's in love with me."
In responding to questions from listeners on his Ask.fm account, Jay Kelly has been
especially candid about his status as a transgender boy, answering a question about why he's famous by saying, "Because I'm transgender and the son of R. Kelly. I don't know why that is such a
huge deal." He said he has
his mother's support and implied that his father isn't a big prescence in his day-to-day life,
writing, "It's not that I don't like him. He made bad choices, and I don't want a relationship with him."
Watch the interview with R. Kelly below:
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