One small, wee suggestion for R. Kelly and his public-relations team, which no doubt has been working overtime of late. If the mission is to rebut allegations that the singer has dominated and intimidated women into sexual slavery, perhaps it might be a good idea to avoid looking aggressive in public, especially with a woman who asks the tough questions Kelly has to answer.

For instance, this … isn’t helpful:

Wow. Gayle Kings composure in front of #RKelly is stunning.
Her interview with him airs Wednesday on @CBSThisMorning pic.twitter.com/bFSVNaxXsZ

— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) March 6, 2019

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that CBS News uses a similar screen shot to headline its story on the interview with Gayle King. It never gets much better for Kelly in this interview, which was a strange choice anyway for someone who’s currently facing prosecution. King certainly thought so, starting off the interview by telling Kelly, “I’m surprised that you agreed to do it.”

Kelly replied that he’s “tired of all the lies,” and especially with the documentary Surviving R. Kelly that finally catalyzed prosecution after years of rumors and allegations of false imprisonment, statutory rape, and other crimes. Kelly insists that everyone is lying about him, and that he’s never had sex with a girl under the age of 17. “All you have to do is push a button on your phone” to start an untrue allegation on social media, which he blames for this latest prosecution.

“I have been assassinated,” Kelly insists, “I have been buried alive.” Facing ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Kelly wants to come out swinging against what he calls lies. And for King, that almost looked like Kelly’s literal intent:

“Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn't do this stuff! This is not me! I'm fighting for my f***ing life! Y'all killing me with this sh*t!" @RKelly told @GayleKing, standing up. "I gave you 30 years of my f***ing career!"https://t.co/u4AENVJQsc pic.twitter.com/jLF7l8etYh

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 6, 2019

“So I think the point you’re making is, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you have never held anybody against their will?”

“I don’t need to. Why would I? How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way way past, to hold somebody, let alone 4, 5, 6, 50, you said — why — how stupid would I be to do that?!” Kelly said.

“I didn’t say you were holding –”

“That’s stupid, guys! Is this camera on me?” Kelly said.

“Yes, it’s on,” King said.

You’d think at that point, Kelly would have had the sense to dial it down. However …

“That’s stupid! Use your common sense. Forget the blogs, forget how you feel about me. Hate me if you want to, love me if you want. But just use your common sense. How stupid would it be for me, with my crazy past and what I’ve been through – oh right, now I just think I have to be monster, and hold girls against their will, chain them up in my basement, and don’t let them eat, don’t let them out, unless they need some shoes down the street from their uncle!”

“Robert –”

“Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f***ing life! Y’all killing me with this sh*t!” Kelly said, standing up. “I gave you 30 years of my f***ing career!”

“Robert –”

“Thirty years of my career! And y’all trying to kill me? You killing me, man! This is not about music! I’m trying to have a relationship with my kids! And I can’t do it! Y’all just don’t want to believe the truth! You don’t want to believe it!” Kelly said.

Later, King replied to a comment on her calm approach, saying, “It wouldn’t have helped if we’d both gotten hysterical.” King’s remarkable composure is not likely to help Kelly much, though. If his defense team hoped to defuse the idea of Kelly being a scary man, prosecutors now have a compelling piece of evidence in how Kelly can use rage to intimidate women. King is a mature, established professional, they will say, who had to bite her tongue to keep Kelly from becoming violent. Imagine what it would be like for a teenaged girl in that same situation. Kelly and his publicists just handed prosecutors a gift that might put Kelly behind bars for a very long time.

When your defense attorneys tell you to keep your mouth shut, this is pretty much what they mean. And if your publicity strategy includes keeping someone around to keep your client calm, maybe a publicity tour is a bad idea in the first place.