R. Kelly claims "unknown conspirators digitally dropped him" into video with young girl

The Smoking Gun ^ | 12.2.03

[mhking]

DECEMBER 2--Alleged pedophile R. Kelly is one inventive guy. The 36-year-old R&B singer is under indictment on child porn charges in Florida (where he allegedly possessed illicit still images) and Illinois (where he supposedly filmed himself with a young girl). When he was nabbed earlier this year in Miami, Kelly told cops, according to the below police report, that "former managers" might have been trying to set him up, "taking pictures of people that look like me" cavorting with the underaged. Kelly has now extended that defense, as it were, to his Cook County case, according to a motion filed yesterday. While simultaneously questioning whether his video co-star was a minor, Kelly notes that he might mount a "computer morphing" defense. The performer, it seems, may argue that some unknown conspirators digitally dropped him into the raunchy video (or, perhaps, replaced his of-age consort with a computer-generated partner based on an actual minor girl). This trial should be a hoot--especially when Kelly's legal team calls George Lucas as its first defense witness. Call it the Industrial Light & Magic defense. (6 pages)

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Obviously the work of Bush, Ashcroft and the bin Laden family ...

[Lady Eileen]

Thanks for the link. You are a faster typist than I am.

[ChemistCat]

My hobby is Photoshopping, and I enjoy making hoax pictures. The standard is to make them believable. Even with "perfect" source pics EVERY TIME, it's hours of work for a still image. I worked for twenty hours on a shot of the Clintons snuggling with Saddam Hussein in a hammock. It wasn't perfect. It was VERY GOOD. I'm proud of it, especially Hillary's hand on Saddam's.

But it wouldn't hold up in court. It's fake, and if you know anything about it, you can see that. (The biggest apparent flaw in it isn't a flaw at all--Bill Clinton's arm looks crooked, but that's just source pic. What ISN'T bent about the man?)

To do it on thousands of images from video just to "frame" someone--nobody has that much time. I'm with you, IncPen. I watch a movie like Jurassic Park now and see where things don't match and don't work--and that was done by professionals with much better equipment than I'll ever have. Once you know how this is done and have done it a few times, fakes are very, very easy to spot. The few that are done so perfectly they fool us are rare and represent far too many hours of somebody's time.

The sad thing is that people are so cynical the jury might well believe this defense. My children are quick to doubt what they see in photos. "Is that photoshopped?" they ask. They've seen me work my magic on photos, so they no longer trust that anything is really what it seems..they are not yet sophisticated enough to see the flaws.

[Alter Kaker]

I don't/didn't possess the video, so technically, no.

But why would you watch such a thing, knowing what is contained within?

[liberallyconservative]

It was a tad gratifying to hear on the radio today that Jackson's cd failed to register in the Top Ten for albums sold, which is a far cry from his usual place atop the charts.

Seems the general public may be tiring of his whimpers, hiccups, moans and any number of other oddities he tries to pass off as music. Or could the tide of public opinion FINALLY be turning against the alleged molestor?

[T'wit]

Oh, oh, oh. Does this mean nobody will find that video of Howard Dean, the swing, the air pump with a long hose, the goat wearing a burqa, twelve gerbils, the cardboard tube, the aerosol can of whipping cream and a guest appearance by Courtney Love? :-( :-( :-(

[IncPen]

I am sure that bit of trivia had nothing to do with his appearance at said legal proceedings; more likely his ownership of Animation Plantation made him the "expert witness."

I was joking about Rivero being called as a witness.

I just thought the Kelly case had it all for a Rivero appearance: conspiracy AND special effects!

How could they NOT call him?

[socal_parrot]

The performer, it seems, may argue that some unknown conspirators digitally dropped him into the raunchy video

R Kelly...Tourist Pedo?

[liberallyconservative]

And as was stated in post #29, R. Kelly's career has not seemed to suffer in any discernable way. In addition to his own videos (the ones for his music, NOT his sexual proclivities) he has appeared in numerous videos for other hip-hop/r&b artists.

[mylife]

Yeeeeah...Thats what it was..Unknown conspirators using technology...Yeeeeah...yeeah ..thats the ticket!

[mylife]

This reminds me of the old Groucho Marx defense, "Who do you believe, me or your lying eyes?"


LOL

[liberallyconservative]

Seems like a courtroom scene worthy of a movie; throw in Johnnie Cochran on the defense, and it will be a must-see.

[IncPen]

Check yer FReepmail

[mylife]

I worked for twenty hours on a shot of the Clintons snuggling with Saddam Hussein in a hammock. It wasn't perfect. It was VERY GOOD. I'm proud of it, especially Hillary's hand on Saddam's.

But it wouldn't hold up in court. It's fake, and if you know anything about it, you can see that.

Yup. wont hold up to close scrutiny by experts.

[July 4th]

To watch this video - this is not itself crime in America? To possess image of sex with child?

Yes, but its wide distribution on the internet means that a lot of people have it, or had it at one point and have since gotten rid of it. When the prosecutors charged Kelly, they specifically said that possession of the video is a crime, and that probably spooked a lot of people into deleting it.

[vp_cal]

I think you should wait and see-

just yesterday i saw a video on the internet
which spliced George Bush's words together
to make him say things like

"we are going to plunder Iraq for its oil"

It was seamless and would have been very convincing
had I not known otherwise.

[chudogg]

1. Altering Still Images is not comparable to altering video.

2. That still image was discovered to be faked because of technical errors in the image. (if i remember correctly)

[185JHP]

Before the (very timely and very appropriate) defenestration of Rivero from FR, he posted a photo of a yellow Ryder truck, supposedly located at a govt. faciliy. Then some other FReeper posted a shot with 3 or 4 yellow Ryder trucks in a row. It looked very credible, although some people began a debunking mission, about shadows being wrong, etc. Fun days indeed.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

R. Kelly claims "unknown conspirators digitally dropped him" into video with young girl

Why... it... it's... it's just like The Matrix, it is! R. KELLY IS THE LIVING INCARNATION OF NEO -- ! :)

[Princeliberty]

It was the same guys who set up OJ Simpson and Micheal
Jackson.