The Mighty Anchor

North Forest Today May 10, 2018 Page 19
#MeToo is succeeding where others failed -- to mute R. Kelly
By Doug Criss, CNN
(CNN) R. Kelly is still singing, but in the #MeToo era his voice is getting more and more muffled.
As the R&B singer prepares for a scheduled concert Friday night in North Carolina amid persistent allegations of sexual
misconduct, his career is under siege on multiple fronts.
-- Streaming service Spotify is removing Kelly's music from all its playlists and algorithmic recommendations, such as
Discover Weekly. His songs will remain on Spotify, but the service will no longer promote them to its 70 million subscribers.
"We don't censor content because of an artist's or creator's behavior, but we want our editorial decisions -- what we
choose to program -- to reflect our values," Spotify said in a statement Thursday. "When an artist or creator does something
that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator."
-- Protesters are trying to get his Greensboro, North Carolina, show canceled. Nine local groups sent a letter this week
to the Greensboro Coliseum, urging promoters to "do the right thing" and cancel the show. The effort comes a week
after a scheduled concert by Kelly in Chicago was canceled -- something Kelly himself blamed on "rumors" in a video
he posted on social media.
A handful of North Carolina groups have vowed to protest the Greensboro show in person if it's not canceled. A
spokesman for the Greensboro Coliseum declined to comment.
-- A growing chorus of celebrities are urging the entertainment industry to cut ties with him. They include singer John
Legend, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, actress Viola Davis and rapper Vince Staples. There's even a hashtag, #MuteRKelly,
around the informal online movement.
Through it all, Kelly remains defiant. But how much longer can his career survive?
What he's accused of
Kelly, 51, one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1990s, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement sent to CNN on Thursday, his management team said, "He is innocent of the false and hurtful accusations
in the ongoing smear campaign against him, waged by enemies seeking a payoff. He never has been convicted
of a crime, nor does he have any pending criminal charges against him."
But the singer's reputation has long been tainted by accusations of sexual criminality.
· In 2002, he was indicted on child pornography charges for allegedly videotaping himself having
sex with an unidentified underage girl. The case went to trial in 2008 and Kelly was acquitted.
· In 2017, a 24-year-old woman alleged she had a sexual relationship with Kellywhen she was 16.
Kelly denied the accusation and no criminal charges were filed.
· An explosive Buzzfeed article last July claimed the singer was holding a group of adult women
against their will as part of what some of their parents said was a "cult." Kelly would not comment, but his attorney dismissed
the "debunked" allegations in an email to Buzzfeed. One of the women later denied publicly that she was being
"brainwashed" by Kelly and said "I'm totally fine."