Mute R. Kelly

Originally Posted on November 29, 2017

R. Kelly has a long history of being accused of sexual assault and abuse. Yet there are still people who support him. Why is that? Many people worship celebrities. They idolize celebrities and believe that they can do no wrong. But society also has a problem with giving predators a pass. There are people out there who will sympathize with the predator before they sympathize with the victim. I also feel that the women and girls that he has targeted plays a part in why he gets away with it. Society has a problem with turning their backs on victims, especially women of color. All of the women and girls we have heard about are black. 

I️ will include a few stories about R. Kelly’s alleged predatory behavior. Let’s go back to the early 90’s. R. Kelly met Aaliyah when she was twelve years old through her uncle, who was his manager at the time. R. Kelly started working with Aaliyah and they were said to have had a close relationship. They secretly married in 1994. He was twenty-seven and Aaliyah was only fifteen, though the marriage certificate states that she was eighteen at the time. Now a common excuse I️ hear about this story is that “her parents allowed it”. That’s actually not true. Aaliyah’s parents did not know about the marriage until 1995. When they did find out, they disapproved of the marriage leading R. Kelly and Aaliyah to have their marriage annulled.

In 2002, a twenty-year old woman accused him of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. They had a sexual relationship when she was only sixteen years old. She eventually got pregnant and accused him of coercing her into having an abortion. There were said to be phone records, witnesses, and medical history. R. Kelly eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.

We also cannot forget the infamous story of him recording himself having sex with an underage girl and urinating on her. This was one of the many videos of R. Kelly that was being sold in underground markets in 2002. R. Kelly was charged with 21 counts for his video with the underage girl. In 2008, he was acquitted of 14 counts. That same year he was interviewed by Touré for the BET network. When asked if he liked young girls, his response was “How old are we talking?”. 

R. Kelly has recently been accused of having a sex cult. He has been said to be physically and mentally abusive towards these women. Some have stated that they were required to wear baggy clothes and ask for permission to eat and use the bathroom. They were told to only address R. Kelly as “daddy”. One woman has stated that he would force the women to have sex with each other and that he recorded everything. There are other disturbing details to these accusations. How many more stories do we need to hear before people stop supporting this man? 

On February 21, 2018, R. Kelly will be joining Charlie Wilson in concert at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Nicole Denson is the lead spokesperson for the boycott of his concert. The purpose is to show that our city does not tolerate sexual assault and abuse. We will not be giving our money to R. Kelly, nor will we be giving him a platform.

Here is the press release for the boycott:

November 15, 2017
Lead Spokesperson
Nicole Denson
Co-Lead Spokesperson
Kalimah Johnson
888-865-7055

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
#MuteRKelly
DETROIT, MI – R. Kelly, is scheduled to perform at the Little Caesars arena in Detroit on February 21, 2018 with Charlie Wilson. The concert will be hosted by New Day Entertainment and 105.9 KISS FM Broadcasting and Media Production Company.

Detroit is currently in the process of healing and adjusting from the trauma of discovering over 11, 000 untested rape kits in an abandoned warehouse in 2009. In 2017, all the kits have been tested and victims are now informed of the criminal justice process and have options for healing and made aware of resources available to them.

R. Kelly has had several encounters with the law (as well as concerned parents of now adult women) centered on power and control dynamics, sexual assault and human trafficking.
Below is a timeline of said encounters:
In 1994, R. Kelly married Detroit’s own Aaliyah when she was only 15 years old.

In 1996, a woman accused him of having sex with her when she was a minor. He settled with her for $250,000.
In 2000, he was brought into court where another teen musician who reported a sexual relationship with R. Kelly when she was a minor and he also settled in that case.
In 2002/2003, he was indicted for child porn in which the judge dismissed the case because the images were seized illegally.

The message that Detroit sends to the nation in allowing R. Kelly to perform here, is that sexual assault, violence and abuse is acceptable and even, celebrated.  While our city is experiencing tremendous growth, we cannot tolerate providing R. Kelly a platform and opportunity to perform in a building paid for by taxpayers, in a city that is recovering from the trauma and silencing of sexual assault survivors over decades.

Statistics show that 81% of the untested rape kits were African American women, overall 1 out of 3 women and 1 out of 7 men will experience sexual trauma in their lifetime.  As a group of interested survivors, advocates, directors and citizens we are asking that Detroit collectively send a clear message that R. Kelly is not welcome to perform here.

The goals for this press release is to promote #MuteRKelly, to ask all citizens to divest in the concert by not attending and more importantly to ask officials of this great city and Ilitch Holdings, LLC to cancel the show .  We are asking that all radio stations stop playing his music.  

We want the concert hosts and their advertisers to drop this show and encourage the public to refuse to buy the tickets and help us to raise awareness about sexual assault.

To get involved email us at muterkellydetroit@gmail.com