R Kelly Doesn't Like Anyone 'Illegal'

In his first interview since being acquitted of child pornography charges, R. Kelly dismissed allegations that he ever preyed on young girls, telling BET News: "I don't like anyone illegal."

Kelly also said he was relieved when the trial was over, and that his upcoming album would feature less of the sexually charged material that has come to define his multiplatinum career.

"I'm really trying to make this album ... a little bit different," he said in an interview that aired on the network on Tuesday. "Take a little bit of the edge off, you know? And you know, clean up a few lyrics if I can, you know?"

Kelly, 40, was acquitted in Chicago in June of multiple child pornography charges. The verdict ended a six-year saga that began when a videotape surfaced of a man looking like Kelly having sex with a girl believed to be as young as 13. Kelly denied he was the man in the videotape, and the girl in the video never testified.

Kelly spoke to BET's Toure for about a half-hour last week. Though the interview did not specifically address the child pornography charges, Kelly was asked about the perception that he is attracted to young girls (Kelly was married to the late singer Aaliyah when she was 15, but the marriage was quickly annulled).

When asked if he liked teenage girls, Kelly replied: "When you say teenage, how — how old are we talkin' ... 19?"

"I have some 19-year-old friends," he added. "But I don't like anybody illegal, if that's what we're talking about, underage."

Kelly said he was worried that he might be convicted.

"But at the same time I was very prayerful," he said. "Verdict day ... I couldn't describe it and I wouldn't wish it on — if I had a worst enemy, which I don't."

When the innocent verdicts were announced, Kelly said he felt relieved that he would be able to see his three children — two daughters and a son — once again.

"I couldn't wait to get home to hug them and hold them," he said.

Despite the charges Kelly faced, he still managed to maintain one of the most successful careers of any artist, notching several platinum albums and hits during that period. His new album, "12 Play 4th Quarter," is scheduled for the fall.

Lynne Spears Takes All The Blame

The mother of pop star Britney Spears on Wednesday heaped the blame for her daughters' erratic behavior throughout 2007 and early this year on herself in a television interview saying "it's always my fault."

Appearing on the morning TV talk show "Today" on NBC, Lynne Spears also said that she first thought it was joke when her younger daughter Jamie Lynn announced she was pregnant at age 16 -- in a note.

"It said she was pregnant and everything was going to be OK. She was going to raise it ... I thought it was a joke. I was waiting for the punch line," Lynne Spears told interviewer Meredith Vieira.

"I was in shock. I think I was just truly in shock, and then I started to cry. And she started consoling me at that point."

Jamie Lynn gave birth to a girl in June and is raising the baby with her boyfriend in their Mississippi home.

Spears, 53, said she accepted much of the blame for the crises of the past two years. Britney shaved her head, went in and out of rehab, lost custody of her children and was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.

"As a mother, don't we always blame ourselves?" she said. "I took a lot of the blame. I took all the blame. The personality I have, it's always my fault."

Spears has written a memoir, "Through The Storm" which is being published this week, about the rise to fame of her daughters.

She said her family had no idea how difficult life was to become after Britney had her first hit, in 1998, with "Baby One More Time" at the age of 17.

"There's the honeymoon phase at first," Lynne Spears said. "Everything is fabulous. Look at the wonderful trips she gets to go on. Look at the wonderful people she's meeting.

"Then there's the ugly side of things that turns, and we weren't ready for that, either."

Britney Spears, 26,, has turned her life around in the past six months with her father now managing her affairs and a new album due out in December. Looking fit and glowing, she won three MTV video music awards last week.

"She's strong," Lynne Spears said. "She's resilient. She's had some big bumps in the road, but Britney's fine. Britney is headed to the top once again. I have no fears about Britney."