Former music executive Barry Hankerson is forever tethered to the legacy of his niece, the late singer Aaliyah, and the scandals of her personal life.
The Background Records co-founder is responsible for introducing the then-teenager, his niece, to R. Kelly, whom he managed as she began to chart her own music career. The 15-year-old vocalist was quickly paired with the “12 Play” crooner to help write and produce her debut album, “Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number,” which was released in 1994.
Around that same time, rumors about him and Aaliyah being romantically involved surfaced as they made public appearances in matching outfits, and Kelly, 27, took an obvious interest in the singer’s personal and business affairs.
They skirted around the topic by describing themselves as “deep friends,” which only further fueled speculation. In August of 1994, Kelly reportedly married Aaliyah in Chicago after lying about her being 18 years old. It has been speculated that Hankerson helped to orchestrate the union that was annulled months later in February by Aaliyah’s parents.
The underage marriage is one of several controversies that would follow Kelly. In 2002, The Chicago Times reported that he was seen in a sex tape with an underage girl. Kelly was charged with filming child pornography but was acquitted during a month-long trial in 2008.
In a new “Art of Dialogue” interview published on Dec. 9, author Ali “Zoe” Adam claims that the tape became publicized at the behest of Hankerson.
“There was a lot of issues with Barry Hankerson and Aaliyah, Gold bless the dead, and Barry Hankerson felt some kind of way so he knew already, ‘Hey, that man got some s–t in his duffel bag. Get that and get it to me, man.’ So we tried to get him,” Zoe alleged.
A first attempt at recovering the belongings was made in 2005 when Kelly was set to film a music video with rapper The Game. The bag was ultimately snatched from the disgraced singer after a performance in Fort Myers.
Zoe recalled, “Got the bag, VHS, s—t, I remember I look and said man what the f—k. The f—k wrong with this n—ga? Man, I don’t know what’s going on but hand this s—t to Barry Hankerson.” He further claimed, “And Barry like s—t, boy, that s—t was bootleg out everywhere. It was bootleg out everywhere.”
When asked explicitly if Hankerson was the “mastermind” behind the leak, Zoe said, “To let it be known, yeah, I would guess you can look at like that. But you know, a lot of things happen with, you know, contracts honoring things and probably trying to cover it up for him and just like sick and tired. Like, man, I ain’t covering this s—t up no more, man. … I don’t know … I know I got it and I handed it [over].”
In the YouTube comments, someone cast doubt on his story writing, “The dates ain’t adding up. He said that he tried to get the tape at R Kelly and the Game’s video shoot. That video came out in 2005. R Kelly tape was leaked in 2002.”
Another commenter quipped, “Kelly got extorted by like 3 different people due to those tapes being stolen and used to get money from him.”
A third reaction read, “It’s some weird men in this world .. That’s it that’s all.. Soooo her uncle released the tapes instead of going to the police?!” Someone else simply stated, “Aaliyahs uncle is a SERIOUS man.”
Additional doubt of Zoe’s account can be attributed to a woman, identified as Van Allen, who testified that she took the tape in 2000. She claimed to have seen recordings of herself as well as an underage girl having sex with the Chicago native when he left a bag unattended during a studio session. When he stood trial in a 2022 federal case, Allen admitted to taking the footage.
She also recounted one of Kelly’s managers threatening to kill her in 2007 after learning she has possession of the incriminating recording. “He said that I failed [the lie-detector], and that they should have murked me from the beginning,” she told prosecutors. Allen also testified about what she saw in the 2008 trial.
The infamous tape, which saw Kelly urinate on the 14-year-old girl, has long been the laughingstock of jokes about the canceled songwriter. Dave Chappelle was one of several people who made a mockery of the indecent interaction on “The Chappelle Show.”
The skit saw him popularize a parody song where he sang, “I want to p—s on you” and “Your body, your body is a porta-potty. … The only thing to make my life complete is when I turn your face into a toilet seat.” Chappelle donned a bald cap, a black scarf tied around his head, and a leather vest outfit, much like Kelly’s staple performance costume during the 1990s.
The once-celebrated artist was offended by the joke and confronted the comedian. According to the comedic icon, “He said, ‘How are you gonna do the video of me peeing on [girls] like that?’ … and I said, ‘How you gonna do the video?’”
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence after being convicted in separate racketeering and sex crimes cases in 2023.
