Grammy winning singer/songwriter R. Kelly was convicted on charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering and sex trafficking involving five victims on Tuesday, September 27th. Accusations against R. Kelly go back as far as 25 years. Over the last week, 50 witnesses took the stand to testify on the abuse R. Kelly inflicted on numerous victims.
During trial, the media was not allowed into the court room. Parts of the trial were so graphic, that the audio recording were not made public.
R. Kelly was convicted on all nine charges brought against him including a racketeering charge with 14 underlying acts. The jury found R. Kelly to be guilty in 12 of the 14 acts; he only needed to be found guilty of two to be convicted in court. The racketeering charge was for a violation of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law.
R. Kelly is scheduled for sentencing on May 4, 2022 where he will face 10 years to life in prison. This does not mark the end of R. Kelly’s legal trouble. R. Kelly is set to face a second federal trial on charges of child pornography and obstruction of justice in Illinois related to a 2008 child pornography case in which he was acquitted. On top of this, R. Kelly faces criminal charges in Illinois, where he was indicted for aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving minors and in Minnesota, where Kelly was charged with engaging in prostitution with a minor.
Despite all of this, fans of the singer could be seen defending him outside of the courthouse.
R Kelly supporters play his music outside of the courthouse. “We’re not giving up on R Kelly!” one supporter yells. pic.twitter.com/dDjyNsAnsk
— Alanna Vagianos (@AlannaVagianos) September 27, 2021
However, these supporters are in the vast minority of how people feel about R. Kelly. Since the verdict was delivered, there have been 243,592 mentions of R. Kelly across social media reaching over 5.8 billion users. Of these, 88.2% of mentions were deemed to carry a negative sentiment. The most popular hashtag associated with R. Kelly’s court case was #MeToo.
R. Kelly’s case has been the highest profile #MeToo movement in the music industry to date.
R. Kelly’s conviction represents a major #MeToo moment for Black women.
"This is the culmination of the movement of so many women who having being trying so long to have their voices heard," said Oronike Odeleye, cofounder of a movement to boycott him. https://t.co/WVvXW1dKX5 pic.twitter.com/Lznl2fOhLw
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 27, 2021
One in five black women are survivors of sexual assault. Today, black women were believed. R Kelly has been found guilty on all nine counts. #MeToo #ibelieveher #justice
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 27, 2021
Twitter users flocked to show their support for R. Kelly’s victims and to show they have no tolerance for those standing by R. Kelly’s side.
People who defend R Kelly are basically saying that the *basic* safety of dozens of Black girls are not worth the accountability of one Black male predator.
— Renee (@PettyLupone) September 29, 2021
This is a rape apologist free zone. If you think R. Kelly got railroaded, go on ahead and block me. Cause when I find out that you agree with rape and molestation, I'm gonna block you anyway.
— Black Girl Photographer (@LeciaMichelle11) September 28, 2021
This case has the potential to be a stepping stone in the right direction, away from victim shaming and towards believing victims of sexual assault. It also calls for the music industry to take a long look in the mirror. These allegations against R. Kelly were public for years, yet he was still signed by a major label and had artists agreeing to work with him. How can artists feel safe in an industry that supports people such as R. Kelly?
Author: Jacob Luksik
