R Kelly defends Bill Cosby against sexual assault charges saying only God could convince him star was guilty as accusations 'happened to me, and it wasn't true'

• Cosby has been accused of decades of sexual assault by dozens of women who claim he drugged and raped them
• R Kelly called it 'strange' that the alleged victims were only coming forward now to speak of historic abuse
• Singer - who was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 - had been accused of underage sex which he settled out of court
• He said only God could show him the truth and 'You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn't true'
• Cosby has been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004
• For more of the latest on Bill Cosby visit baucishotel.com/cosby

R. Kelly has defended disgraced comedian Bill Cosby against his sexual assault allegations, saying only God could convince him the star was guilty.

Cosby, who has been accused of decades of abuse by dozens of women, is charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2004.

But R. Kelly - who was acquitted of child pornography charges in 2008 - has defended the 78-year-old star in an interview with GQ. 

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The R&B singer added that it was 'strange' that the women accusing Cosby had waited so long to come forward. 

'You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn't true,' he told the magazine. 

He said he had 'no idea' if the allegations were true or not but that it was up to God to show him the truth.

'God is the only one can show me that. No man can tell me that. No woman can tell me that,' he explained.

'And when you wait 70 years, 50 years, 40 years, to say something that simple, it's strange.

'You know why I say that is because it happened to me, and it wasn't true.'

Three-time Grammy winner R. Kelly was found not guilty of 14 counts of child pornography in 2008 after a 2002 sex tape was leaked which allegedly showed him with an underage girl.

And back in 1998, the Chicago-born singer settled a $10M lawsuit with Tiffany Hawkins, 20, for $250K after she accused him of sexual abuse when he was 24 and she was 15.

R. Kelly told GQ the woman who had accused him were 'absolutely lying' but said that his lawyers at the time had advised him to settle to avoid damaging his career.

'What the lawyers tell me? "You should settle. Your album's coming out. You have a GQ front cover coming out, you have BET next week, you have the Grammys coming up. 

'Wrong or right, you can win the battle and lose the war. It's on you, but that's what we advise you to do.'

Cosby, who starred as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, has denied any wrongdoing.

He is currently out on bail after he was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University employee Andrea Constand, following his arrest on December 30.

Cosby's lawyers last week attacked the criminal charges as 'illegal,' saying they violate a prosecutor's pledge that he would never be charged over the 2004 sexual encounter.

That promise led Cosby to testify in a related civil lawsuit without invoking his Fifth Amendment rights, the lawyers said in a court filing Monday.

Cosby had settled the civil lawsuit with Constand for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after giving four days of deposition testimony. 

Yet, a decade later, a new prosecutor called the newly released deposition testimony a key piece of evidence that fueled his decision to arrest Cosby last month.

The motion lays out the defense's plan of attack for the upcoming February 2 preliminary hearing and asks for District Attorney Kevin Steele's office to be disqualified if the case isn't thrown out.

Several women, mostly from the worlds of modeling, acting or other entertainment fields, have accused Cosby of drugging and molesting them. Most of the historic allegations fell outside the statute of limitations.

Cosby is also the focus of a defamation lawsuit, brought by several of his accusers including model Janice Dickinson.

Dickinson is suing him and his team over accusations he trashed her good name in the press by labeling her a liar after she said the comedian drugged and raped her in 1982 while they were at a Lake Tahoe hotel.