Twitter/Tracy Simpson Tracy Simpson pictured on her Twitter page.
Tracy Sampson was one of the first woman to bring charges against R. Kelly. She said that the singer made advances towards her when she was a teenager, and forced her to perform sexual acts against her will. She eventually settled out-of-court in 2002.
You can learn more about Sampson’s history with Kelly here. But where is Sampson today? How has her life changed since coming out against the controversial singer? Here’s what you need to know:
Sampson Currently Runs a Bakery In Chicago
Sampson, 37, is the proprietor of a Chicago bakery called Yum Squared. According to the “About” page on the website, Yum Squared came out of Sampson’s love for baking, which she had been doing since she was a child. She realized that she often baked as a means of winding down from work, so she decided to turn her passion into a career in 2012.
Sampson’s mission statement for Yum Squared is to “provide handcrafted cupcakes, cakes and baked goods, which are made fresh daily from the finest ingredients. I believe desserts should be a work of art that is not only visually stunning but that awakens your taste buds. When indulging in desserts you will see that we embrace fresh ingredients in the place of artificial flavorings. We do our best to use organic ingredients as well as offer our clients dairy free and vegan options.”
You can click here to check out the Yum Squared menu of cupcakes, birthday cakes and cotton candy.
Sampson Settled a Lawsuit Against R. Kelly for an Undisclosed Amount In 2002
Sampson worked as an intern at Epic Records when she was a teenager. She met R. Kelly when she was 16, and told the Washington Post that her naivete allowed her to be taken advantage of. “I was in love with him,” she said. “I just didn’t know what to do. Like, I didn’t know if this was normal. I didn’t know if this is how adults acted.”
“He makes you feel like he’s a wounded puppy, like he’s hurt so deeply, that there’s good there — he just can’t get it all out,” Sampson added. “Being so much older [now], I see how wrong stuff was and how ultimately gross and pedophile-ish it was, but that’s something you have to have your adult brain process.”
Sampson filed a lawsuit against Kelly in 2001. An excerpt from the lawsuit, obtained by Buzzfeed reporter Jim DeRogatis, read:
I was lied to by him. … I was coerced into receiving oral sex from a girl I did not want to have sex with. I was often treated as his personal sex object and cast aside. He would tell me to come to his studio and have sex with him, then tell me to go. He often tried to control every aspect of my life including who I would see and where I would go.
Sampson and Kelly eventually settled out-of-court for an undisclosed sum.
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