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In a recent interview on The Dr. Oz Show, Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson alleged that his sister was aware of the sexual abuse R. Kelly inflicted on the then-underaged singer at that time.
When asked about whether he’d known about the “issues” happening in Aaliyah and Kelly’s relationship when the two were together, Hankerson says he’d been entirely unaware.
“Didn’t have a clue,” the 74-year-old told Dr. Oz. “Completely ignorant to it.”
Throwing Aaliyah’s mother Dianne Haughton under the bus, Hankerson added, “I think my sister knew a lot more than what we thought she knew.”
Hankerson signed Aaliyah to his record label in the early 1990s when she was just 12 years old. The former record label exec is in part responsible for the singer’s catalog finally being available to her fans via streaming platforms.
Hip Hop DX and Insider noted that Hankerson was the one who introduced Aaliyah to Kelly after first signing the young talent all those years ago.
The disgraced R&B crooner later produced Aaliyah’s 1994 album, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, and the project was released jointly through Jive Records and Blackground Records respectively, the later which Hankerson co-founded.
As MADAMENOIRE has extensively detailed, shocking, tragic and disturbing revelations about R. Kelly and Aaliyah’s relationship have come to light since Kelly’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering case began in Brooklyn back in August.
Aaliyah was 15-years-old and Kelly was 27 years of age when the two got married in the suburbs of Chicago, in Aug. 1994. Kelly obtained a forged I.D. that claimed the Aaliyah was of legal age so the ceremony could take place. Prosecutors also claim Aaliyah was then pregnant by Kelly, and that he strategically planned the marriage so he could be protected from criminal charges since a wife cannot testify against her husband.
Shortly after the nuptials, the “One In A Million” singer’s parents had the union annulled.
RELATED CONTENT: “Barry Hankerson Revealed What He Did When He Found Out R. Kelly Married Aaliyah”
Watch the short clip of Barry on The Dr. Oz Show for yourself down below.
