Slate's Josh Levin Uncovers the Real "Welfare Queen" & Talks R. Kelly

Josh Levin, executive editor of Slate Magazine, wrote a jaw-dropping story at the end of 2013 probing the life of Linda Taylor, the woman who he discovered was the actual “welfare queen,” the toxic, living-high-on-the-hog -off-the-government’s-dime stereotype, who became emblazoned in the American imagination after her exploits where chronicled in Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign speech.  

While many believed she was a politically-motivated fabrication, her fraud was very real and chronicled in great detail in the Chicago Tribune.  

The “welfare queen” in the minds of most is thought to be a Black woman, however, Levin’s article details the life of a woman who on her birth and death certificates was actually codified as white, but regularly used multiple racial identities and names to commit crimes far more damning than public aid fraud.  

And, she even has a connection to singer R. Kelly, whose documented questionable relationships with underaged girls is finally getting the amount of scrutiny it never received when the first accusations were lodged against him decades ago.