Former video vixen Gloria Velez has made headlines recently after her son’s father, R&B singer Aaron Hall was named in a lawsuit alleging he committed several sexual crimes against women, including accusations about an incident with Diddy.
Social media users began dissecting his song lyrics and now they are talking about a video of the Guy singer discussing how he Velez for the first time that emerged online.
In the midst of the storm of allegations and the recounting of a 1990s R&B heartthrob’s wild sexual escapades, it has come to light once again that Velez was a minor when she initially met and was intimate with the Guy member.
Without letting the moment slide, the host of the “Jo Glo” podcast passionately condemned Hall and fellow Florida native Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell. Velez alleges that both men exploited her, and the latter groomed her during her teenage years.
The now 44-year-old, who was 16 when first started dancing for 2 Live Crew frontman and having intimate relations with Hall, took to her Instagram Stories and shared her student ID card, writing on the image, “I look like a baby.”
One of the things that Velez said on the social media profile is that her former boss was one of the first artists she knew of in hip-hop who “scouted” out underage girls for his colleagues.
“If you don’t think grooming is happening in this business you’re sadly mistaken. It started 1994 with Luke and a few others in this business. I was in high school,” she said. “South Florida 1993/1994. Teen clubs. Where the pedophilia men scouted and groomed. It was their playground.”
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, “[Adults who groom children use] manipulative behaviors … to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse, and reduce the risk of being caught. While these tactics are used most often against younger kids, teens, and vulnerable adults are also at risk.”
“Grooming can take place online or in-person,” the organization states, “It’s usually employed by a family member or someone else in the victim’s circle of trust, such as a coach, teacher, youth group leader or others who naturally have some interaction with the victim.”
In the music industry but particularly hip-hop, the trappings of celebrities— rich men on television with fancy toys and gifts — are part of the allure. Like the Luke/Hall/Velez saga, many believe that Beyoncé was groomed by Jay-Z, when they started dating and she was still a teenager and he was 31.
Uncle Luke responded to the grooming allegations in his own video on social media, saying that not only did he not exploit young girls but had systems in place to protect himself from allegations such as this because so much of the content he produces involves adult entertainment.
“I just learned what the f–k grooming mean,” the King of Miami said. “I don’t even know what the f—g grooming mean. Grooming, the f—k is grooming? They had to explain that s—t to me. Y’all got the right one. I don’t have no problem going to court. I’m not Russell Simmons.”
“I don’t do that, I know my brand. My brand is Luke. ‘Hey, we want some p—y.’ ‘Face down, a— up, that’s what make n—gas like me so horny.’ The problem is when you know your brand and you know what you’re singing about, you subject yourself to be in that kind of trap faster,” Luke explained. “So, what you have to do is really not be about what those songs is talking about because you can get yourself jammed up.”
“I video everything, I video everything,” he said. “Everybody sign releases. I do shows. Ain’t no underage people be doing no show with me.”
Miami Rap Legend Uncle Luke responds to former Vixen and Podcaster Gloria Velez after she specifically called him out for grooming young women in the 90s pic.twitter.com/UqpwbJKKCa
— SHO’NUFF (@IAMSHO_NUFF) November 26, 2023
The 2 Live Crew leader elaborated on his system, sharing that one of the checks and balances for his team was lead dancers who governed the other dancers and stopped them from having inappropriate relations with the rappers they were tapped to hang out with under Luke’s brand.
“I fire girls. You get caught, um, I have a chaperone for the girls, one head dancer, it’s always one head dancer. And she put everybody in check,” he explained. “This is not a traveling whorehouse. So if you gonna mess around with these other artists, you’re gonna get sent home, sweetheart, you get fired.”
Velez previously took to social media in a May 13 post to broach the conversation of her age and possibly the trauma she experienced under his guard. “Just 18 years old here. With a veteran already in the game @unclelukereal1,” she began in her caption.
“The last time we’ve actually seen each other in person or on the Phone I was 19 years old.” A lot has been said throughout the years,” she continued. “Maybe soon it’s time to sit down and talk. Like adults. I’m not a child anymore. I’m 44 now.”
Luke is 18 years Velez’s senior and was in his early 30s when he first met her.
At the time, he jumped in her comments and wrote, “That’s my girl love, Gloria.” She repled under his remark, a week later, “@unclelukereal1 look at good (prayer hands) Luke 6:27-28 and Jesus said father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
A popular gossip site dug up the remarks and posted them. Luke commented on this revisit of her statement and wrote, with fresh eyes and understanding about the many sexual assault cases out there, “No no no Luke don’t get down like that baby. Keep your Convention on your baby daddy before you get a defamation lawsuit.”
Luke also took to his story and to stake his claim as a mentor and leader, not a groomer. He wrote, “Everyone around me I encourage them to be Great. Better businessman women. Better parents. Better community servants. I have a long list of individuals who work for me that are multimillionaires.”
He shared on Vlad TV that Aaron Hall introduced him to Velez, a claim that Hall vehemently denies.
