Students express support for survivors in "Surviving R. Kelly"
- blessing aghimien
- Jan 15, 2019
- 4 min read
The salacious allegations against the self-proclaimed ‘Pied Piper of R&B’ has been a trending topic on social media as of late, thanks to a new Lifetime series set out to expose decades of abuse claims against Robert Sylvester Kelly — better known by the moniker of R. Kelly.
Headlined as “Surviving R. Kelly,” the six-part docuseries premiered Jan. 3 and aired over the course of three nights. “Surviving R. Kelly” highlighted a myriad of allegations made against the Grammy-winning singer dating back to the early 1990’s, from the singer’s controversial relationship with late R&B singer Aaliyah to capturing the rescue of one of his alleged sex cult victims on film.
Containing more than 50 interviews, the majority of those interviewed were alleged victims of R. Kelly’s abuse, from former musical protege Sparkle to the singer’s ex-wife and the mother of his three children, Andrea Kelly. All of the victims featured in the documentary were women of color, which peaked the interest of ECU sophomore Naomi Wright as she watched the docuseries.
To Wright, the Lifetime docuseries accurately exposes how sexual allegations are “dismissed” when women of color are victimized.
“It’s a watershed moment for women of color,” Naomi Wright, a communication and political science double major, said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that if even one of R. Kelly’s (alleged) victims were white, that he would have been behind bars today.”
The docuseries captured widespread attention, as “Surviving R. Kelly” garnered an average of 2.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings statistics. Despite the more than six hours of content, “Surviving R. Kelly” executive producer Dream Hampton said the alleged revelations in the docuseries were just the tip of the iceberg.
“There are many things I can’t talk about and will never discuss because it’s so dark and sad and traumatic,” Hampton said in an email to The East Carolinian. “As for the purpose of this documentary, I would like people to turn away from R. Kelly. I want them to not have all these caveats about him. I would like to relentlessly hit them with so much evidence that they can no longer, without shame, be an R. Kelly supporter.”
Following the docuseries’ broadcast, notable celebrities such as Ne-Yo, Meek Mill, Jada Pinkett-Smith and more have lambasted Kelly for his alleged misconduct with minors and black women.
One of the most outspoken has been singer-songwriter John Legend, who was one of the celebrities who actively participated in the docuseries. Legend cited his participation as simply “the right thing to do” and the experience “didn’t feel risky at all.”
Hampton, according to The Detroit Free Press, said she had trouble getting celebrities to participate in the documentary. Hampton attributed the celebrities’ hesitance to participate as not necessarily a move of support for R. Kelly, but simply because the docuseries’ subject matter was “messy.”
“It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated (artistically) with Kelly to come forward. We asked Lady Gaga. We asked Erykah Badu. We asked Celine Dion. We asked Jay-Z. We asked Dave Chappelle. (They’re) people who have been critical of him. That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me,” Hampton said in a Jan. 3 interview with The Detroit Free Press.
Freshman Draymond Wiley said he grew up on R. Kelly’s music and even sang the R&B artist’s 1998 hit, “I Believe I Can Fly” at his fifth grade graduation. After watching the docuseries last week, Wiley said his perspective of R. Kelly has “dramatically shifted.”
“Of course I believe the women and as a black man, I believe more people should echo my sentiment,” Wiley said. “It’s a shame it took an overdue film project for me to come to my senses, but it’s impossible to ignore the credibility of his (alleged) victims when watching the series.”
Outside of the court of public opinion, “Surviving R. Kelly” has even spurred the attention of state prosecutors in Georgia, which is where one of the singer’s mansions is located.
According to multiple reports, the Fulton County District Attorney is reportedly exploring the possibility of charging Kelly with false imprisonment for the alleged “cult” in which Kelly reportedly kept young women at his homes, demanding they have sex with him as he pleases and forbidding them from doing anything without his permission.
R. Kelly has denied the idea that he is holding anyone against their will, and some of the women in question have told the police that they lived with the singer voluntarily. To counter, some of the women’s families have argued they have been brainwashed by R. Kelly himself.
For junior Lauryn Sumpter, the complexity of the allegations against R. Kelly are “troubling beyond belief.” Sumpter added while she is inclined to believe the women who are alleging sexual violence against the singer, she also has to adhere to the presumption of innocence.
“As a criminal justice major, one of the first things you learn is that everyone who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” Sumpter said. “I’ve worked with many sexual assault victims and I know how hard it can be for them to tell their stories. But it’s important that the (Fulton County) district attorney thoroughly investigates these allegations so they can be vindicated through the proper legal channels.”
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