R. Kelly Documentary Turned Down by Jay Z, Lady Gaga and Others

“Surviving R. Kelly,” the three-part series premiers this evening (January 3). The new documentary will be on Lifetime.

The show traces and investigates the many allegations that have plagued R. Kelly about how he sexually abused woman and girls.

Dream Hampton who is the series executive producer and is also an activist and author has stated that multiple artists were approached to appear in the series and they turned down the opportunity.

Hampton spoke to the Detroit Free Press and stated Jay Z, Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Erykah Badu, and Dave Chappelle were approached because they had once collaborated with Kelly, but they all refused to be interviewed. Also, Mary J. Blige, Lil’ Kim and Questlove refuse to speak. He went to these people because they have spoken out against Kelly in the past.

Hampton said that most people do not want to go near the subject. Questlove stated that he would do just about anything, but he wouldn’t do this. Questlove later stated on Twitter that he thought always that R. Kelly was trash. He declined the documentary because even though he supports it, he did not want to talk about the personal time portion of the documentary.

He also said that the women who spoke in the documentary are amazing, brave and survivors. They had important stories to tell, and they wanted to tell them to help other women avoid getting into the same situation. The women were not paid, and being in the documentary would not further their career in any way.

Kitti Jones, R. Kelly’s former girlfriend, and Andrea Kelly his ex-wife are two of the 50 interviews conducted and featured in the series. Jones and  Kelly have spoken in public about the singer’s alleged abuse history.

Also interviewed was John Legend and Sparkle, R. Kelly’s protege who in 2008 testified against Kelly at his trial for child pornography which he was acquitted of.

Hampton called Legend his hero for having the guts to come on the documentary and talk.

They are everything, these women. We call them survivors. They are so brave. Their stories are important, and they have every right to share them. Many of them have said they (want) to prevent someone else from falling into abusive situations. There are no big paychecks for these women. Producers could not pay them to be in a documentary. There are no endorsement deals. This kind of exposure does not lead to some great something. Hampton said that he admire them so much and have all the respect in the world for them.

It was also alleged that R. Kelly had sexual relationships with the singer Aaliyah (who died in a plane crash) when she was a teenager. In the episode airing this evening, Jovante Cunningham who states she was R. Kelly’s former backup singer stated she saw R. Kelly and Aaliyah having sex. R. Kelly was 27 and Aaliyah was 15.

Aaliyah’s mother, Diane Haughton, responded to Cunningham’s allegations. She stated that she had no clue who Cunningham was and she never was in the same room as Aaliyah. She and her husband were always on tour with Aaliyah and went to every interview. She has never met her before.

In New York, a screening of Surviving R. Kelly was shut down due to a gun threat at the venue.

Written By Barbara Sobel

Sources:

Detroit Free Press: R. Kelly allegations addressed in Detroit writer’s Lifetime docu-series
NME: Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and many other stars turned down new R. Kelly documentary
TooFab: ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Producer Reveals A-List Stars Who Allegedly Declined to Appear in Lifetime Docuseries

Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Proacguy’s Flickr – Creative Commons License