A forensic psychiatrist suggested that singer R. Kelly showed signs of having borderline personality disorder and perhaps other conditions, including manic depression. This analysis comes on the heels of Kelly’s emotional interview with CBS News’ Gayle King, in which Kelly vehemently and tearfully denied sexually abusing minors.
Forensic psychiatrist Carole Lieberman–author of Bad Boys: How We Love Them, How to Live with Them, When to Leave Them–said Wednesday that the interview, coupled with Kelly’s history, revealed a lot about him. She told Law&Crime Network host Bob Bianchi that Kelly seemed volatile, aggressive, and flew off the handle during the interview. He also displayed paranoia, she said.
Lieberman argued that Kelly showed signs of having borderline personality disorder. This condition is marked in part by mood swings, unstable relationships and abandonment issues, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Lieberman also suggested Kelly may suffer from other issues, including manic depression. People who suffer from bipolar disorder may exhibit extreme shifts in mood, according to the NIMH.
Lieberman argued Kelly feared women leaving him and suggested that all this fear might be traced to Kelly’s upbringing: Kelly previously said that a female relative sexually abused him.
“Here he was a little boy under this older woman’s control–her sexual abuse–and now he is what’s called ‘identifying with the aggressor,'” said Lieberman. “He’s identifying with the person who abused him.”
Kelly claimed in a 2012 memoir Soulacoaster that he had been sexually abused as a child. He told GQ in a 2016 a interview that this was an older female relative. It started when he was 7 or 8, and continued until he was 14 and 15, he said.
In the CBS interview, the singer denied that this past affected his behavior.
Kelly was charged in a child pornography case in 2002, but was acquitted in 2008. Allegations continued, however. A number of women, including ex-wife Andrea Kelly, claimed in a recent documentary Surviving R. Kelly that he was abusive and controlling. He now faces another criminal case: prosecutors said he sexually assaulted four women over the years. Three of them were under 17, at least five years younger than him. The fourth was 24, and a hairdresser. Authorities said in a bond proffer that DNA evidence supports two of the cases, and video evidence buttresses a third.
It’s in this light that Kelly spoke with King. He denied ever doing anything illegal with women and said that he was betrayed.
[Screengrab via CBS]
