Beyonce's father speaks about how he protected Destiny's child from R. Kelly

Mathew Knowles says he stopped Destiny’s Child from collaborating with R. Kelly in the ’90s after hearing about the singer’s reputation.

Speaking to Metro UK, Mathew Knowles said: “I was there, and my former wife Tina was there. The thing with R Kelly was, he liked to record late at night, around midnight. And what was different with his studio was that one room had a recording suite, and next door was a club, with 40 or 50 people dancing.

“R Kelly was managed by Sony, by someone I won’t name, and at that time, they would almost force you to record with their artists. And R Kelly wasn’t cheap – it was $75,000, plus travel costs, so we’re talking $100,000 for a song.

“I personally rejected the song, because I didn’t think it was a good song. Not just because of [his] reputation – this was around 1998, we had just begun to hear some of those things.”

Mathew was asked if the rumours surrounding R Kelly played a role in his decisions from then on, and he said: “Certainly, it was both of those things. The girls were 15, 16. When they went to the bathroom, Tina would go with them. They did not leave our eyes.”

At that time, rumours have been rampant since the 90s that R. Kelly is a child molester. The rumours peaked when the singer allegedly married Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 27.