New witnesses have testified in the ongoing federal trial of disgraced singer R. Kelly regarding his “Chocolate Factory” studio.
Former employees of the Olympia Fields mansion about 25 miles outside of Chicago, where Kelly worked and lived, took to the stand describing the mansion as a “Twilight Zone” per CNN.
Anthony Navarro began working as a runner for Kelly in 2007 where he would pick up the singer’s meals and answer phone calls.
“It was almost like the Twilight Zone when you went into the gate, like you’re in this different world that was just a strange place. They weren’t supposed to be wandering around,” Navarro explained during the trial. “They had to get permission to do most things. They’d have to call either down to the studio or get ahold of Rob if they wanted anything, like food or things like that.”
Kelly’s former studio manager, Tom Arnold, also testified stating that “female guests and others would be asked to sign ‘nondisclosure agreements’ upon entering,” and “would often have Polaroids taken of them and stapled to their signed agreements,” per the news outlet.
Defense attorney Thomas Farinella pointed out that the safety measures were to protect Kelly’s wife at the time and children who lived at the home.
Arnold also revealed that employees had special rules when guests came onto the property.
