On January 3, 2019, Lifetime aired the first of six episodes in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries, shining a light on the numerous sexual abuse allegations surrounding the hip hop and R&B artist. Spanning the course of three nights, the production gives an in depth view into the multifaceted and decades long controversy.

While the news of potential crimes shocked many in the last few weeks, the situation has actually been unfolding since 1994. It is rooted in the then 27 year old R. Kelly’s marriage to his protege Aaliyah Haughton, who falsely stated on the marriage license that she was 18 years old. However, the Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number Haughton was truly 15, and only months later saw her marriage annulled by her enraged parents. In the years since her tragic 2001 death, Kelly has claimed that the marriage never happened and refuses to speak further on the matter.

In the 25 years following this incident, Kelly has been involved in dozens of other sex related crimes, beginning in 1996 when he was sued for having sex with an underaged girl but later settled. In 2001, Chicago Sun-Times’ Jim DeRogatis published allegations that he was using his fame to connect with young girls by returning to his Chicago high school, Kenwood Academy. Another case related to this settled in court.

Shortly after, in February 2002, a video emerged of him having sex with and urinating on an underage girl. Months later, he was indicted for 21 counts of child pornography and during investigation, law enforcement found 12 images of an underaged girl, the case was then dropped within a year on the basis of lack of probable cause for search warrants.

Nearly 15 years later, after winning nearly 50 various music awards, DeRogatis publishes a series of stories from Buzzfeed on an alleged abusive sex cult lead by R. Kelly. A year later, his ex-wife came forward in late 2018 claiming that he choked and abused her.

Asante McGee, a woman who claims to have been taken to live with Kelly in 2014 amongst multiple other women told BBC News, “He controlled every aspect of my life, while I lived with him. Myself and two other girls who were living with him while I was there could only eat when he said we could eat. Sometimes you could go a whole day without eating because he would simply forget to feed you…”

Surviving R. Kelly documents the troubling and often disturbing allegations against the recording artist, hearing from nearly 50 people including John Legend and Chance the Rapper, and has understandably sparked a strong reaction from many, including RJR junior Maddy Harvey.

“I think that it’s absolutely repulsive. It’s so sad that some people are just now realizing how disturbing this whole situation is,” Harvey said. “There have been investigations circulating around him for a long time and to see people put it off like it’s nothing is honestly disgusting.”

While most agree with the sentiments of anger and disgust some like RJR English teacher Pamela Kirkland also urge a greater sense of introspectiveness and questioning.

“We need to work harder to separate our love affair with the idea of celebrity, and hold individuals accountable for behaviors that harm,” Kirkland said. “I encourage them [students] to ask “why”, and to search for the answers beyond what media offers. Most people have an agenda, and the truth isn’t always at the forefront of that.”

While the situation is a complicated one without an apparent solution, most people agree that one of the first steps to be taken should be for people to stop supporting his music.

“I do believe that they should cut all ties with his past music as well,” Harvey said. “While he may not be receiving the profit, I still think it shows the wrong message. Some artists such as Céline Dion and Lady Gaga have removed their collaborations with him off of streaming services.”

In the weeks following the airing, record labels have dropped the artist and the popular streaming platform Spotify has introduced a feature to allow users to ‘mute’ certain artists, a move that caused the introduction of #MuteRKelly to begin trending on social media.

As responses continue to form and take flight, many urge the thought that at the end of the day, the real thing to remember, over the controversy of supporting his music, is the women that came forward.

“I don’t know that the crimes he has committed have been against the label, as much as the women involved,” Kirkland added.

While millions of viewers are anxiously awaiting what legal action will be taken against the artist, he has announced his plans to sue the network for the series.

“I am so proud of every victim who has come forward and has been brave enough to share their stories because I know that that is not easy,” Harvey added.

To this day, Kelly has denied every allegation against him.

Photo provided by Creative Commons