Celebrity News:

A shouting match erupted during the R. Kelly trial Thursday as the R&B superstar’s lawyer and a relative of his alleged victim clashed over the sex videotape at the heart of the child pornography case.

The heated courtroom skirmish, which took place in front of a wide-eyed jury, pitted prominent attorney Edward Genson against former Kelly protege Stephanie "Sparkle" Edwards, the prosecution’s key witness.

The argument highlighted an emotional day in which four witnesses identified the female participant in the video as a former Oak Park resident who referred to the singer, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, as her godfather. All estimated the girl’s age in the tape to be about 13 or 14 years old.

Edwards, who sings backup for Toni Braxton in Las Vegas, was among the first people to identify the alleged victim for the police. The defense maintains she instigated the investigation because she has a vendetta against Kelly, who severed business ties with her after her debut album in 1998.

The loud bickering began when Genson asked if someone could have doctored the illicit video to make it appear as if Kelly were paying a young girl to perform various sex acts. Edwards, who wore cosmetic glitter under her left eye to provide her trademark "sparkle," gave a snide smile.

"I know my family," she said. "I know them. Trust me."

"And so you know and believe your [relative] took money from Robert Kelly and then had sex with him, which is on that tape?" Genson asked. "That’s what you know?"

"Just like he made her do," Edwards said, struggling to maintain her composure. "You see she’s a robot on that tape."

Genson then tried to make Edwards acknowledge she didn’t know who made the tape.

"Robert made the tape," she answered, her voice growing louder. "You can clearly see him setting it up, passing my [relative] some money, like she is a prostitute."

Genson suggested Edwards hoped to profit from the tape because she spoke with a lawyer about it before talking to the police.

"Sweetie, I am not trying to get money from anybody," Edwards said.

"I’m not your sweetie," Genson snapped.

Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan halted the testimony and ordered the two to calm down. Stunned jurors stole sideways glances with each other as a few tried to stifle laughter.

Kelly, who rarely looked at Edwards during her testimony, stared straight ahead with no expression on his face.

The 41-year-old Grammy winner has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges stemming from the tape. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

The alleged victim, now 23, and her parents deny her involvement in the video. Without their cooperation, the prosecution must rely upon friends and family members to identify the video’s female participant.

Edwards testified that she introduced the alleged victim and her parents to R. Kelly when the girl was 13. She wanted Kelly—a prolific producer as well as recording artist—to hear the girl rap.

At the time, Edwards was working with the singer on her debut album, which eventually sold more than 1 million records. The two also scored a hit with their 1998 duet, "Be Careful."

"He liked her spirit," Edwards said as she dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "She was a very jolly person at the time, very personable, a little tomboyish. She was my heart."

Dressed in a white shirt, tan skirt and large silver hoop earrings, Edwards described how she asked Kelly for permission to work with other producers and songwriters after her first album’s success. When Kelly rejected the request, the alleged victim told Kelly that Edwards wanted to leave so she could collaborate with her then-boyfriend.

Edwards and Kelly eventually ended their business relationship, but she testified the two remained on friendly terms. They last exchanged pleasantries at an Edwards family bowling event two weeks before the relatives learned of the video, she said.

"He was my homeboy," she testified. "So, yeah, we were still cool."

Genson, however, suggested Edwards was bitter because she didn’t make more money from the first album.

"More money?" she asked. "I’ve never gotten any money."

The day’s other witnesses included three Oak Park residents who identified the alleged victim as the female participant in the video. The three included a former friend and the mothers of two girls who played competitive basketball with the alleged victim.

One of the women, Adra Gengler, broke down crying when Genson doubted her ability to identify the alleged victim because she hasn’t seen or spoken with her daughter’s former friend in more than six years. Genger, who had watched the sex tape at the prosecutors’ request that morning, acknowledged she did not want to testify.

"It’s very upsetting to my family," she said, sobbing. "I just wanted it go away."