Absolutely disturbing details have dropped about R Kelly holding women in a "cult"

*CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR A YOUNG AUDIENCE*

Notorious R&B star R. Kelly has been accused of keeping a number of women in homes in Chicago and Atlanta as members of a sex-obsessed, abusive cult.

The stunning allegations made against the 50-year-old - whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly - are part of a bombshell report by Buzzfeed News, which cites interviews with former members of the performer's inner circle and parents of girls as young as 19 who are with Kelly.

The website spoke to Cheryl Mack, Kitti Jones, and Asante McGee - all former members of Kelly's entourage - about the sort of treatment endured by young women who find themselves pulled into the singer's orbit, the Daily Mail reports.

Mack, Jones, and McGee said there are at least six women living in properties rented by the R&B star in Chicago and Atlanta. The "guest houses" where the women are kept are near his home in suburban Atlanta, and his apartment at Trump Tower in Chicago.

They, according to Buzzfeed, then described the 50-year-old as an utterly controlling figure who dictates every aspect of the women's daily lives: telling them what and when to eat, how to dress, how to cut their hair, when they sleep, when they bathe, and how to engage in "sexual encounters that he records" and then shows to male friends.

"No. You have to ask for food. You have to ask to go use the bathroom... [Kelly] is a master at mind control... He is a puppet master," Mack, who worked as the singer's assistant, told the website.

Twitter have now chimed in and they are less than impressed it has to be said:

The women, who said the "babies" - as the girls are referred to - are required to call Kelly "Daddy", then ran through a list of people they believe were living either at one of the performer's properties in Atlanta or his Chicago recording studio last summer.

• This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.