The sisters of the disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly have spoken out in defence of their brother, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for serial sex abuse back in June, and said racism is to blame for his conviction.

In an interview with Good Morning Britain, Cassandra, Theresa, and Lisa Kelly sat for an extensive interview and said their brother did nothing wrong.

“African Americans have always been treated unfairly,” Cassandra said. “So I think that, that has a lot to do with it as well as other factors.”

When asked if her brother had ever been with any underage girls, Lisa Kelly said she would not acknowledge the victims of her brother’s abuse, and claimed their brother had never been with an underage girl.

“I can say he may have been with younger women but as far as underage girls, no,” Lisa said. “And I stress girls—underage girls, who has seen that?”

She continued, “I’m not gonna acknowledge something that I don’t have the proof of. If there is a victim, I’ll acknowledge. But from what I’ve seen in court and from what I’ve studied and from what I’ve read the only victim I see that’s been stolen from, lied on is Robert."

"No one is talking about the money that was being extorted from Robert. No one is talking about what was stolen from him...he’s not a monster, he’s not a pedophile, he was just taken advantage of.”

The interview comes shortly after Kelly was moved from New York to Chicago, where he’ll face four counts of the production of child pornography, five counts of child sex trafficking, three counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

The interview also comes after the self-proclaimed manager of R. Kelly pleaded guilty to stalking one of his client’s sexual assault victims in order to try and silence her.

Donnell Russell, 47, pled guilty in federal court on Thursday to interstate stalking after he used phone calls, emails and text messages to harass and intimidate the victim and her mother, identified only as Jane Doe. 

“Russell used threats, harassment and intimidation in a deliberate effort to silence one of R. Kelly’s victims and prevent her voice from being heard,” United States Attorney Breon Peace wrote in a statement.

“When his initial effort failed, he continued his vile campaign by sending threatening messages to Jane Doe and her mother, and publishing explicit photos of the victim on the internet before and after Kelly was indicted. As this prosecution makes clear, the defendant’s conduct was not only reprehensible, but it was also criminal and will not be tolerated.”

The manager’s plea arrives a mere week after he was convicted on a separate charge related to a violent threat he made against a New York City theatre that had been screening Lifetime’s six-part docuseries Surviving R. Kelly. 

Russell was found guilty of threatening physical harm through interstate communication after he called the New York theatre from his Chicago home in Dec. 2018 and told them he’d “shoot up the place” if they proceeded to screen the bombshell docuseries focused on his client.

Russell is scheduled to be sentenced in November on both charges and faces up to five years in prison for each.