Who is Joycelyn Savage? Biography facts about R. Kelly‘s ‘sexually abused victim‘ who happens to be his engaged girlfriend.
From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, R. Kelly was one of the hottest R&B artists in the game. However, as his career went on it became clear that there was something lurking below the surface.
In recent years, several allegations have been made involving Kelly’s relationships with underage girls many of whom he allegedly turned into live-in girlfriends.
Joycelyn Savage, one of the women who was in a relationship with Kelly, became well-known in 2019 when her story was featured in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly.
In the docuseries, her parents revealed that Joycelyn had been taken advantage of by Kelly, and they were concerned for her safety.
Like many of the other women who have been linked to Kelly, Joycelyn denied these allegations. Keep reading to learn 18 things you didn’t know about Joycelyn Savage.
How old is Joycelyn Savage and where is she from?
Joycelyn was born on July 22, 1995, making her age 26 (as of 2021). She comes from Atlanta Georgia. Once she became connected to R. Kelly, she relocated to his hometown of Chicago. Unfortunately, there is little known about Joycelyn’s upbringing outside of what her parents shared on Surviving R. Kelly. However, we do know that she is originally from the Atlanta area.
What does Joycelyn Savage do for a living?
Joycelyn Savage is a model and singer by profession. She garnered the attention of the viewers when she was romantically linked to R. Kelly. Music has always been an important part of Joycelyn’s life and she had dreams of becoming a singer. That is one of the reasons why she was initially so drawn to R. Kelly. As far as we know, however, Joycelyn has never released any music and it doesn’t appear that she has any projects in the works.
Who are Joycelyn Savage’s parents?
She is the daughter of Jonjelyn Savage and Timothy Savage. She has two younger sister siblings, Jori Savage and Jailyn Savage.
How did Joycelyn Savage meet R. Kelly?
In 2019, Savage reactivated her Instagram account and she stated that she would put out the story of her time with R. Kelly on the paid membership platform Patreon. In the first post, she disclosed, that she was 17 when met the musician at one of his concerts. He gave his word to her to start her music career. “Baby girl you are going to be the next Aaliyah,” he said to her.
As with several of the other women R. Kelly is accused of grooming, Joycelyn was only a teenager when she met R. Kelly. When Kelly began to show an interest in her, Joycelyn couldn’t help but be starstruck. She also hoped that Kelly would help her with her career. Although that is something he promise to do, it appears that that promise never came to fruition.
She dropped out of college to follow R. Kelly who had promised to make her a star.
The 26-year-old blindly trusted Robert Sylvester Kelly popularly known as R. Kelly and she ended up dropping out of college and moving in with him. She wrote, “After these couple of months Robert started giving me commands and making sure I call him by certain names. Like ‘Master’ or ‘Daddy’ which I didn’t really care for at the time.”
Joycelyn further added, “If I wasn’t getting paid or pursuing my dream I would’ve gone home, but all of that didn’t stop just yet. But It started getting worse by day by day, he would raise his voice at me if I didn’t call him by those two names. If Robert called me I would have to reply with ‘Yes, daddy’ or ‘Please daddy’ he was so controlling.”
She accused her parents of scamming R. Kelly.
Anyone who saw Joycelyn’s parents on Surviving R. Kelly will agree that they both appeared to be concerned parents who were hoping that their daughter was safe. Joycelyn, however, has accused them both of lying and attempting to use her story as a way to scam R. Kelly out of money.
Is Joycelyn Savage on social media?
Since her story became widely known to the public, there are lots of people who have flocked to social media in hopes of getting an update on Joycelyn’s life. Unfortunately, though, the only Instagram account that appears to be associated with Joycelyn hasn’t had any activity in more than two years. In fact, some people even speculate that the account may not really belong to her.
When the Instagram account for Joycelyn surfaced in 2019, a Patreon account quickly followed where Joycelyn promised to share details about her story. In order to access the content on Patreon, users had to pay a subscription fee. The account was ultimately shut down on the grounds that the person posting may not have really been Joycelyn.
She’s also on Facebook and Twitter.
She was interviewed by Gayle King.
After Surviving R. Kelly was released in 2019, Joycelyn began getting lots of attention from the media. That year, she and Azriel Clary, another one of R. Kelly’s live-in girlfriends, sat down for an interview with Gayle King. The environment quickly became hostile with both women feeling like they were being attacked for their relationship with Kelly.
Her faith is important to her.
We don’t have any details about the specifics of Joycelyn’s religious beliefs, but it appears that faith is something that plays a major role in her life. The bio for her Instagram account reads “God first”. There’s no doubt that she has had to lean on her faith many times over the years.
Did Joycelyn Savage go back to her family?
Robert Kelly has been in federal custody since July of 2019, following the heinous allegations revealed in the docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly. At the time, it was reported that Kelly had two live-in girlfriends, Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage—both of whom hadn’t seen or been in direct contact with their families for years.
Clary agreed to cooperate with authorities investigating Kelly and as of January 2020, she returned home with her family. However, Savage (according to her parents) may still be under his control.
Jonjelyn and Timothy Savage spoke with TMZ and revealed that they tried to contact Joycelyn when her grandfather passed away but had to do so through Robert Sylvester [Kelly’s] camp.
“No response whatsoever. It’s time up for that,” said her father. “Everybody wanna say she’s grown? Let me hear from a grown woman. I wanna hear from my daughter.”
Her mother chimed in, adding, “Joycelyn, we need to hear from you directly. We always heard through third-party information and we aren’t able to hear from her directly without—what I call—’ prison calls,’ where the calls are scripted and known to be scripted.” Jonjelyn also asked to have a “one-on-one call as a family.”
“Listen, Robert is locked up,” said Timothy Savage at the end of the video. “All these enablers need to move aside. Joycelyn, I need to see you at that funeral. Just that simple.”
A week prior to Clary’s return home, footage surfaced of a physical altercation at Kelly’s Chicago residence in Trump Towers involving both Savage and Clary.
Clary explained in an Instagram Live that “[Joycelyn] just came to get [Kelly’s] awards, and his Grammys and stuff, and after that, she starts saying that I’m so wrong and this and that. And I told her, ‘Joycelyn you’re going to jail. You slept with a minor, that minor was me. You did it multiple times, over and over again.’”
Clary, then, stated that was when Savage began “attacking” her. Yet, Savage told PEOPLE, “[Azriel] has been trying to sabotage me ever since the start of it all. It’s just gotten worse since we’ve moved in together at the Trump Tower. She’s so immature, she knew I was packing my stuff to leave so she decides to go on Instagram Live to cause a scene.”
When was the last time Savage and Kelly met?
The last time Kelly and Savage were spotted together in public was way back in the year 2018. The two of them were clicked by the paps on May 8, 2018, at a shopping mall, where Kelly was seen placing his hands on her as she shopped for sunglasses.
R. Kelly revealed that he is engaged to longtime girlfriend Joycelyn
As per the reports of the New York Post, the Trapped in the Closet singer disclosed that he is engaged to longtime girlfriend Joycelyn Savage in a letter to a judge pleading for leniency ahead of his sentencing.
She allegedly accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse.
During the brief time, Joycelyn’s alleged Patreon account was active, accusations were made that Kelly had abused her by doing things such as choking her. The account also mentioned that she had been brainwashed into doing public appearances and saying that their relationship was healthy.
Savage asserts she wasn’t a sex slave to R. Kelly and confesses she was engaged to him.
“I’m not the victim that the government has portrayed me to be,” Savage wrote in a letter to the federal judge ahead of her alleged fiancé’s sentencing.
In the past, both of her parents stated that Kelly “brainwashed” her. Soon afterward, Savage cleared the air and slammed all those allegations. She told TMZ, “I’m not being brainwashed or anything like that.”
Savage declared she was not a victim of the singer and called the couple’s relationship “amazing.” She penned down a letter to Judge Ann Donnelly that read, “My relationship with Robert is amazing. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We have a very special connection and are deeply in love. I still support Robert to this day because I love him and will always be here to support him.”
Joycelyn further added, “Robert is not the monster that the government has described him to be. The Robert I know is very sweet, gentle, and kind. At the end of the day, he has always made sure that I’m taken care of, and any other women he was with as well. Robert and I are deeply in love, and it breaks my heart that the government has created a narrative that I’m a victim.”
The singer concluded by saying, “I’m a grown woman and can speak for myself, which is why I wanted to provide this letter to the court. I respectfully ask that the Court take my words into consideration when sentencing Robert. He is a great man, with a great heart and deserves to be home with his loved ones who are ready to support him.”J
Joycelyn Savage’s family “strongly doubts” she’s engaged to R. Kelly.
Despite the woman’s claims of engagement, though, the latest update from TMZ reveals that her family was never made aware of any such thing.
Family attorney Gerald Griggs told the outlet that “she never made the engagement known to the family, and they’ve never even spoken about the possibility beforehand.”
Griggs also mentioned that he finds it odd that Savage opted out of testifying under oath, instead choosing to slip it into a letter submitted to the court.
The Savage family “strongly doubts” that Kelly and their daughter have such a relationship, and they have hopes of reconnecting with her to get the full story, though they did admit that it wouldn’t be unusual of her to not have told them about getting engaged.
According to the lawyer, Joycelyn “hasn’t really spoken” to her parents since she left to be with the convicted sex offender.
Why did R. Kelly get arrested?
For those of you who are unaware, let us tell you R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in jail on June 29, Wednesday. As per the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, post his conviction last year, on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges that have grown over time as he has used his name and fame to ensnare victims he sexually abused.
The prosecutors asked the judge to sentence the rapper to more than 25 years, on the other hand, his lawyers requested the court to lower the number of years he is supposed to spend in jail, saying the prosecutors’ request was “tantamount to a life sentence.”
Joycelyn’s family issued a statement after R. Kelly was sentenced.
Not long ago, the family of Joycelyn Savage issued a statement following the announcement of Kelly’s sentence. Gerald A. Griggs, Attorney for the Savage Family put out the statement.
The statement read, “The Parents of Joycelyn Savage are pleased with the sentence handed down by Judge Donnelly today. They hope it will continue to send a strong message that sexual predators will be punished for their illegal conduct. It is their continued hope to reunite and reconnect with their daughter. They hope that now Joycelyn will return home. They are glad that the Court heard the voices of the survivors.”
A former backup singer for Kelly, Jovante Cunningham praised the sentence. She went on to say, “I started this journey 30 years ago. There wasn’t a day in my life up until this moment that I actually believed that the judicial system would come through for Black and brown girls.”
Cunningham continued, “I stand here very proud of my judicial system, very proud of my fellow survivors, and very pleased with the outcome.”
What is Joycelyn Savage’s net worth?
The exact figure of Savage’s net worth is not known however, she is believed to be worth around $500,000 to $1 million.
