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R. Kelly has spent much of his career quietly dodging legal issues, and for the first time he might be facing consequences. After BuzzFeed published a bombshell report from parents who believe their daughters are being held in a "cult" by the singer, women who were previously a part of the alleged "cult" have come forward to accuse the rapper of both sexual and physical abuse. Then, accusations were documented in harrowing detail in the Lifetime miniseries, Surviving R. Kelly. Now, the rapper has been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
However, these alleged instances aren't new. Kelly's been on the receiving end of similar accusations for over 20 years now. Since 1996 he's settled numerous lawsuits out of court and stood trial for 14 counts of child pornography, but it's taken until 2018 for him to face even the smallest consequences. His publicist, lawyer, and an executive assistant have all cut ties with him, although his lawyer, Linda Mensch, says her departure is unrelated to the accusations.
Kelly also inspired the movement #MuteRKelly, with the women of Time's Up calling upon Apple Music and Spotify to remove Kelly's music from their platform, Ticketmaster to stop selling tickets for Kelly's performances, and RCA records to stop producing and distributing his music. Spotify announced on May 10 that they removed the artist from their programmed playlists, promotions, and recommendation systems.
Kelly has denied all claims of sexual misconduct, but the women are not backing down. Ahead, catch up on all the accusations of sexual misconduct that have been made against the artist, and how close his accusers are to justice.
If you have experienced sexual abuse or violence find support at Shelter Safe.
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