“Everybody out there is talking about the big TV broadcast about that sexual predator in the entertainment industry,” Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday’s Late Show. “And unfortunately, I have to narrow that down.”
In this case, he was talking about R. Kelly’s explosive appearance on CBS This Morning during which he spent several minutes screaming at host Gayle King.
“If you've been living under some beautiful, comforting, noise-cancelling rock, R. Kelly is accused of multiple counts of physical and sexual abuse, including holding victims, some underage, against their will,” Colbert explained. “And this was a chance for Kelly to try to reassure the world that he is normal. But instead, he went with not that.”
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After playing the clip of Kelly rising from his chair and emotionally ranting at King, Colbert said, “Wow, he shouted and cried, but was completely unconvincing.” Comparing him to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, he added, “For Pete's sake, he forget to say he liked beer!”
Praising Gayle King’s “composure” during the tense interview, Colbert joked, “She knows when you're interviewing R. Kelly, you gotta go by the T. Rex rules—it can only see motion.”
At one point during the interview Kelly rejected the relevance of past allegations against him, telling King that he “beat” that case. “No, Mr. Kelly,” Colbert said. “That was your last case. This is the remix to conviction.”
