The first of the six-part docu series, 'Surviving R. Kelly' which aired on Lifetime during the week, interviewing dozens former friends, family member
The first of the six-part docu series, ‘Surviving R. Kelly‘ which aired on Lifetime during the week, interviewing dozens former friends, family members and colleagues about the singer who all make grim claims about the singer abusing women and young girls. But John Legend is essentially the only fellow artist who agreed to speak out where many more declined. ‘R. Kelly has brought so much pain to so many people,’ John says in an interview. ‘Time’s up for R. Kelly.’
Producer Dream Hampton claimed Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Dave Chappelle, Celine Dion, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Lil Kim and Questlove all refused to participate.
‘When it comes to celebrities, It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated (artistically) with Kelly to come forward, pointing out that Gaga, Badu, Dion, Jay-Z and Chappelle had all been critical of him in the past. That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me,’ she said.
Gaga collaborated with Kelly on “Do What You Want” in 2013, and Beyoncé’s husband made two albums with Kelly. Both artists have disavowed him since then, yet refused to comment for Lifetime. Hampton also said Questlove was approached for the doc, but declined.
“I remember Ahmir [“Questlove” Thompson] was like, ‘I would do anything for you but I can’t do this.’ It’s not because they support him, it’s because it’s so messy and muddy. It’s that turning away that has allowed this to go on,” she said.
In since-deleted tweets, Questlove said that he declined to be interviewed because he thought he was only being asked to praise Kelly and not condemn him: “I didn’t wanna be in the ‘good times’ portion of the doc, like stanning for his ‘genius.’ I was asked to talk about his genius. I do not nor have I EVER stanned for him.”
“To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all,” I believe these women and don’t give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision,” he said.
According to Just Jared, the documentary also briefly features Wendy Williams, Charlamagne Tha God, and Chance the Rapper – who voices regret for working with Kelly amid the recent sexual abuse allegations.
