The news was announced on Friday.
The judge overseeing the sex abuse charges against R. Kelly ruled on Friday that cameras will be allowed in the courthouse during the trial, despite objections from two of Kelly’s alleged victims.
According to
Rolling Stone, Judge Lawrence Flood said that coverage is allowed from 22 March and all subsequent proceedings will allow for video and audio recording, as well as still photographs.
Kelly, who was not at Friday’s hearing, did not protest the invitation of devices to document the trial, as he apparently "wants everyone to know what is going on in an open and transparent process."
Two of the four women whose encounters with Kelly resulted in the sex abuse charges, initialed “H.W.” and “R.L.,” wrote letters to Judge Flood asking that cameras not be permitted during the trial; both women, according to the charges against Kelly, were underage at the time of the sexual abuse.
In the letter, one of the women said that she had no interest in being a "media spectacle", and that R. Kelly's legal team had already "attempted to publicly shame" the victims.
The judge maintained the authority to stop recording on a witness-by-witness basis, in order to protect identities.
