After Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly” was released for the whole world to see, many people condemned R. Kelly for his blatantly horrific acts toward women, in particular young women. The docu-series revealed the heinous story of R. Kelly’s history as a pedophile and child rapist and showed how he abused and brainwashed multiple young women. The docu-series also went into how he manipulated young women and then controlled their every action, even showing that he has created a sex cult.
Among the 50 different people interviewed, both testifying against R. Kelly and calling him out, John Legend—yes, that’s right, husband to Chrissy Teigen and amazing singer—was one of the interviewees to call out R. Kelly. Legend took to Twitter, one of his favorite platforms, and stated, “To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all, I believe these women and don’t give a f*ck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.”
I say we should applaud the already amazing John Legend for standing up for these women who risked their reputation and mental health to come out about their experiences. Not only is he standing by his words and these women, he is showing mainstream culture that you shouldn’t defend sexual abusers for the sake of their celebrity status.
In the recent years alone, many celebrities, such as XXXTentacion and Kevin Spacey, have been revealed to have a history of sexual abuse or harassment. Yet, due to their celebrity status, they continue to make money and be in the limelight of society, even having many fans who deny the truth, defend them and attack brave victims who have come out against them. For example, 50 Cent, the rapper, defended R. Kelly claiming that people were overreacting and lying in a tweet saying, “Spotify is wrong for what there doing to artist like R Kelly and xxxtentacion. There not even convicted of any thing.“
Hence why John Legend, a famous man, defending these victims is so very important in this day and age. In a society where social media and presence is important, Legend is showing that standing up for victims and giving other sexual abuse victims the support to come out against their abuser is more important than maintaining a flimsy media reputation.
Which leads me to this: stop defending and supporting celebrities who are terrible people! Boycotting and bringing light to those such as R. Kelly has an effect. Since the Lifetime docu-series has come out, R. Kelly’s music has been taken off Apple Music and Spotify and he was dropped by his record label. Those claiming that an artist’s music can be separated from the artist are not realizing the consequences. By listening to an artist’s music, you are supporting the artist and funding their lifestyle. If John Legend isn’t afraid to call out people such as R. Kelly, then you shouldn’t be either!