In reply to Defying Gravity.

I agree with everything you said except for the "abuse" part. I think you will find varying views among people on what constitutes abuse. Kelly was not physically abusing anyone nor has anyone ever claimed he physically abused them. The alleged abuse Kelly inflicts is mental, which is a very very gray area.

It is quite common in black families for teenagers to date older boyfriends and girlfriends and no one ever talks about it. Often times, the parents themselves were in the same situation (one was a teenager and the other was already an adult. They dated and then got married eventually). Even, in other countries / continents like the UK, Africa, China, and Japan IT IS QUITE THE NORM where the legal age of consent is 16, 11-12, 14, and 13 respectively. Again, no one ever talks about this even though that is the law in those places.

If my teenage daughter was dating a young man in his 20s who was rich, talented, and had the means to absolutely make her a star I would be okay with him dating her as long as he respects her and never physically abuses her. My parents were okay with me dating older men that were successful when I was a teenager too. That is what I believe happened here with Aaliyah's parents. That does not make me or her parents pimps. It just means that our views on life are different than others. Often times, the people adamantly against a teenager dating an adult do not have children of their own so they are only qualified to speak on it from a technical perspective but certainly not from a life experience perspective.