About

#MuteRKelly is a social media hashtag and campaign to bring attention to the numerous sexual misconduct allegations against recording artist, songwriter and producer R. Kelly and boycott his music.

Origins

In July 2017, a campaign by Atlanta Arts Administrator Oronike Odeleye to remove the music of R. Kelly from radio airwaves in the Atlanta, Georgia area began.^[1]

The earliest known usage of the hashtag "#MuteRKelly was posted on July 17th, 2017, Professor Stephanie Y. Evans tweeted,^[2] "I am a survivor. Believe survivors. Amplify survivors voices. Listen to survivors. HEAR SURVIVORS. #MUTErkelly" (shown below) Two weeks later, one of the founders of the campaign Kenyette Tish responded the to the tweet^[3] and called it the "muse for the hashtag" (tweets below)

Spread

On July 20th, Kenyette Tish posted an article on the blogging website Medium^[5] entitled "#MuteRKelly: Why I’m Protesting the Atlanta R Kelly Concert." In the article, she repeats allegations of sexual misconduct that had been lodged at Kelly at the time, particularly a report published by BuzzFeed ^[4] on July 17th, 2017. She wrote:

He’s also been recently named as a leader in an Atlanta-area “sexual cult” involving several young women (many who are speculated to have been there since they are teens), where these captive young women’s eating, bathing, toileting, and sexual activities are monitored. Is that enough?

But let me finish.

Atlanta is the HUB OF UNDERAGE SEX TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES! Yes, those United States. And it is no secret that “The ATL” is historically known for its salacious adult entertainment scene. That’s cool. Ain’t nothing wrong with ADULTS, ENJOYING ADULT ENTERTAINMENT.

However, what is NOT COOL is the seedy undercurrent of girls as young as 13 years old, who’ve been kidnapped, pimped out and trafficked by adult men. Men who like young girls.

Men like R. Kelly.

The following year, on April 30th, 2018, the Time's Up movement published a letter on Instagram ^[6] calling for a boycott of Kelly's music under the hashtag. In the letter addressed to "Our Fellow Women of Color," the organization wrote, "The scars of history make certain that we are not interested in persecuting anyone without just cause. With that said, we demand appropriate investigations and inquiries into the allegations of R. Kelly’s abuse made by women of color and their families for over two decades now." The post (shown below) received more than 17,800 likes in 24 hours.

Following the post from Time's Up, various celebrities voiced their support of the movement. Director Ava Duverney tweeted,^[7] "We join the call to #MuteRKelly and insist on the safety + dignity of all women. We demand investigations into R. Kelly’s abuse allegations made by women of color + their families for two decades. We call on those who profit from his music to cut ties. #MuteRKelly #TIMESUP #WOC…" The post (shown below, left) received more than 8,600 retweets and 18,900 likes in 24 hours.

Recording artist John Legend tweeted,^[8] "I stand with the women of #timesup #muterkelly." The post (shown below, center) received more than 5,700 retweets and 31,000 likes in 24 hours.

Actor Lupita Nyong'o tweeted,^[9] "We demand appropriate investigations and inquiries into the allegations of R. Kelly’s abuse. #MuteRKelly #TIMESUP." The post (shown below, right) received more than 2,000 retweets and 7,000 likes in 24 hours.

A spokesperson for R. Kelly responded to the campaign on behalf of Kelly. They wrote:^[10]

"Kelly supports the pro-women goals of the Time’s Up movement. We understand criticizing a famous artist is a good way to draw attention to those goals--and in this case, it is unjust and off-target.

“We fully support the rights of women to be empowered to make their own choices. Time’s Up has neglected to speak with any of the women who welcome R. Kelly’s support, and it has rushed to judgment without the facts. Soon it will become clear Mr. Kelly is the target of a greedy, conscious and malicious conspiracy to demean him, his family and the women with whom he spends his time.

“Kelly’s music is a part of American and African-American culture that should never--and will never--be silenced. Since America was born, black men and women have been lynched for having sex or for being accused of it. We will vigorously resist this attempted public lynching of a black man who has made extraordinary contributions to our culture.

"–Thanks for listening. R. Kelly management."

Several media outlets covered the protest, including The New York Times,^[11] The Root,^[12] The Independent,^[13] Uproxx,^[14] NBC^[15] and more.

On May 1st, Twitter^[16] published a Moments page about the movement.

Spotify Removal

On May 10th, 2018, the music streaming service Spotify removed R. Kelly's music from any editorial or algorithmic Spotify-curated playlists, such as Music Friday, RapCaviar, Discover Weekly and other Spotify-created playlists. Under the terms of the company's public hate content and hateful conduct policy, they will no longer promote Kelly's music. However, Kelly's music will still be available on the Spotify; the company just will not be promoting it.

In a statement to Billboard,^[17] the company said:

"We are removing R. Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations such as Discover Weekly. His music will still be available on the service, but Spotify will not actively promote it. 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. 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."

That day, Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, tweeted^[18] her support of the decision. She wrote, "Yes!! It. Is. Not. A. Drill. #MuteRKelly." The post (shown below) receved more than 350 retweets and 1,900 likes in 24 hours.

Additionally, Redditor ^[19] bjorktothefuture posted news of the announcement in the /r/Music subreddit. The post received more than 33,000 points (89% upvoted) and 4,500 comments in 24 hours.

Sexual Assault Caught On Tape

On February 14th, 2019, The New Yorker reported on the move to indict R. Kelly in Illinois after officials received a video of Kelly sexually assaulting an underage girl.^[23] Attorney Michael Avenatti,^[22] former attorney for Stormy Daniels , took to Twitter on January 31st, stating, "Since April, I have been working on the R. Kelly matter. The results of that work will soon be known. We are going to blow this wide open for the sake of each of his victims and one less pedophile will be free. Count on it. #Justice" (shown below). The tweet gained 1,650 retweets and 12,542 likes in a few weeks.

On February 14th, @MichaelAvenatti ^[20] posted another tweet with a statement attached stating, "In response to press inquiries, attached is a stmt regarding our work on the R. Kelly matter since April, including the discovery of new critical video evidence establishing his guilt. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this predator is brought to justice" (shown below). The tweet gained 1,406 retweets and 3,746 likes that day. The statement addresses the recent tape and other evidence briefly along with outlining the "painstaking" work that's been done on the case since April 2018.

That same afternoon, Avenatti^[21] released another statement to Twitter. It reads, "Below please find a second stmt relating to our investigation of R. Kelly. As a father of two teenage girls myself, I have the utmost faith and confidence in Ms. Foxx and her staff to ensure justice is done" (shown below). The tweet was retweeted 487 times and like 1,400 times that day. The statement describes the recently submitted tape in more detail.

Search Interest

External References