R. Kelly in 2012.
By Ben Gabbe/Getty Images.
Since his 2008 trial for child-pornography charges ended in acquittal, R. Kelly has mostly evaded consequences for behaviors that observers and journalists have said continued. During the original moments of the #MeToo movement, the singer’s name was occasionally mentioned, but he avoided major financial or social consequences of the kind that attached to Kevin Spacey or Harvey Weinstein in the fall of 2017.
After Lifetime aired Surviving R. Kelly, a documentary series helmed by dream hampton, his fortunes have begun to change. First, major stars like Lady Gaga and Céline Dion removed their duets with Kelly from streaming platforms. Then he was dropped from his longtime record label, R.C.A. On Friday morning, the Chicago Sun-Times reports, he was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County, Illinois.
Earlier this month, The New Yorker reported that a recently uncovered videotape of Kelly allegedly assaulting a minor led Cook County prosecutors to reopen an old case. Celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti tweeted that he was doing pro-bono work on behalf of victims in this case, adding, “We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this predator is brought to justice.”
The charges come as the music industry is facing another wave of conversation about institutional abuse and sexism. This year, the Recording Academy attempted to rectify past allegations of gender discrimination by featuring women more prominently at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Last week, a New York Times investigation broke abuse allegations about the rock musician Ryan Adams that included sexting with a minor. The story led the F.B.I. to open an inquiry into the matter. (In response to the allegations, Adams’s lawyer denied any abuse and said, “Mr. Adams unequivocally denies that he ever engaged in inappropriate online sexual communications with someone he knew was underage.”)
Per the Sun-Times, R. Kelly’s attorney Stephen Greenberg said that his client had not been notified of the charges against him as of early Friday afternoon. Kelly has previously denied all of the allegations levied in Surviving R. Kelly. In a January interview with the Associated Press, Greenberg said, “He never knowingly had sex with an underage woman, he never forced anyone to do anything, he never held anyone captive, he never abused anyone.” Kelly has not yet responded to the substance of the charges, and Vanity Fair’s requests to his lawyer for comment were not immediately returned.
This is a developing story.
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