Mute R. Kelly

File:R. Kelly in 2017 02.pngMute R. Kelly (styled as #MuteRKelly) was the name of a movement and social media campaign that sought to have American singer R. Kelly convicted of sexual abuse and end financial support for his career.{{cite web |title=MuteRKelly |url=https://twitter.com/OffMuteRKelly |website=Twitter |accessdate=March 10, 2019}} Founded by Kenyette Barnes and Oronike Odeleye in 2017, the movement played a significant part in drawing renewed attention to decades-long allegations against the singer, and became especially prominent following the 2019 release of the documentary series Surviving R. Kelly.

Following Kelly's 2021 conviction on charges that included racketeering and child sexual abuse, co-founder Barnes celebrated the movement's success while acknowledging that its scope went beyond Kelly himself: "Those of us who have fought for justice for so long understand that our work is not over. We also recognize that it was a culture of adultification, misogynoir and rape culture in the entertainment industry, and in the Black community, that enabled his predatory behavior. But we can take a moment now to acknowledge that the truth finally prevailed."{{Cite magazine |last=Barnes |first=Kenyette Tisha |date=2021-09-29 |title=R. Kelly Has Finally Been Silenced. Let's Keep It That Way |url=https://time.com/6102538/r-kelly-conviction-mute/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |magazine=Time |language=en}}

Founding

Over the course of his career, R. Kelly faced allegations of sexual abuse, including that of minors. From his illegal marriage to R&B singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, to his controversial 2008 acquittal on charges of child pornograhy, the allegations caught significant media attention but had hitherto little impact on his career.{{Cite news |last=Streitfeld |first=David |date=2008-06-14 |title=R. Kelly Is Acquitted in Child Pornography Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/arts/music/14kell.html |access-date=2020-06-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

The campaign was founded by activist Kenyette Barnes{{cite web |last1=Motolani |first1=Alake |date=August 16, 2018 |title=Meet Oronike Odeleye, the co-founder of the #MuteRKelly Campaign |url=https://www.pulse.ng/gist/profile-meet-oronike-odeleye-the-co-founder-of-the-muterkelly-campaign/pj2shcj |accessdate=March 16, 2019 |website=Pulse.ng}} and arts consultant Oronike Odeleye in July 2017, when Odeleye was informed Kelly was booked to perform at the Fulton County-owned facility in Atlanta. Oronike stated, "Someone had to stand up for Black women, and if I wasn't willing to do my part—no matter how small—then I couldn't continue to complain. It's time for us to end this man's career. Enough is beyond enough."{{cite web |last1=Alake |first1=Motolani |date=August 16, 2018 |title=Meet Oronike Odeleye, the co-founder of the #MuteRKelly Campaign |url=https://www.pulse.ng/gist/profile-meet-oronike-odeleye-the-co-founder-of-the-muterkelly-campaign/pj2shcj |accessdate=March 10, 2019 |website=Pulse}} That same month, Jim DeRogatis reported for BuzzFeed News on new allegations, detailing three sets of parents accusing the singer of holding their daughters in an "abusive cult".{{Cite web |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |date=2017-07-17 |title=R. Kelly Is Holding Women Against Their Will In An Abusive "Cult," Parents Told Police |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jimderogatis/parents-told-police-r-kelly-is-keeping-women-in-a-cult |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en}}

At the time of its founding, co-founder Odeleye described the campaign as such: "#MuteRKelly continues until the Black community has fully financially divested from the man and his music and we tackle the overwhelming issue of sexual abuse". Odeleye is an African American Atlanta-based arts administrator and alongside her, Kenyette Barnes, activist and lobbyist, also sought to lobby elected officials, mobilize activists around the world encourage users of music streaming platforms to #ThumbItDown, when R. Kelly's music plays, in order to change the algorithm of his songs until they stop playing.{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Ida |date=May 9, 2018 |title=It's Finally Time for an R. Kelly Reckoning |url=https://www.damemagazine.com/2018/05/09/its-finally-time-for-an-r-kelly-reckoning/ |accessdate=March 16, 2019 |website=Dame Magazine}}

12 chapters of the movement were founded around the world, including #RKellyStummschalten in Germany and #MuteRKellyAmsterdam in the Netherlands.

Impact

=Protests=

The Mute R. Kelly movement impact sparked many actions after being founded. The movement saw a number of public protests in Chicago,{{cite web |last1=Brooks |first1=Ryan |title=R. Kelly Protesters And Fans Faced Off Outside His Chicago Studio |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancbrooks/r-kelly-chicago-protests |website=Buzzfeed News |date=January 12, 2019 |accessdate=March 11, 2019}} Atlanta, Memphis,{{cite news |last1=Northam |first1=Mitchell |title=R. Kelly's Atlanta show goes on amid protests; Memphis show canceled |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/kelly-atlanta-show-goes-amid-protests-memphis-show-canceled/SuxjVAKIKv6ZYpQ3QguoqK/ |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |accessdate=March 11, 2019}} New York City,{{cite magazine |last1=Leight |first1=Ellias |title=Protestors Demand RCA Drop R. Kelly at New York Rally |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/r-kelly-sony-rca-protest-rally-779555/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |accessdate=March 15, 2019}} North Carolina,{{cite news |title=R Kelly gives defiant performance amid protests in North Carolina |work=BBC News |date=May 12, 2018 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44094184 }} and more. Despite the protests, in some cities, Kelly still performed.

However, Kelly's scheduled performance was cancelled at the "Pre-Mother's Day Love Jam" at the University of Illinois at Chicago on May 5, 2018. A women's group at the university created a petition that secured 1300 signatures.{{cite magazine |last1=St. Félix |first1=Doreen |title=Will #MuteRKelly Work? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/will-muterkelly-work |magazine=The New Yorker |accessdate=March 10, 2019}} Kelly then posted a video on Twitter stating: "First of all, I want to apologize to all of my fans in Chicago, and basically all around the world wherever I'm performing at and they cancelled me." He then went on to say, "I don't know why they cancelled the show. I never heard of a show being cancelled because of rumors, but I guess there's a first time for everything. So, I apologize to you guys and in the meantime, I'm going to try to get to the bottom line of it, you know, as far as my lawyers are concerned, and see exactly what happened and why I was cancelled."{{cite magazine |last1=Romano |first1=Nick |title=R. Kelly apologizes to fans after he's dropped from UIC Pavilion concert lineup following protests |url=https://ew.com/music/2018/04/30/r-kelly-chicago-concert-canceled-protests/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |accessdate=March 10, 2019}}

=Celebrity attention=

The movement sparked some celebrity attention. Some of R. Kelly's music collaborations received backlash and were removed from streaming services as the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series aired on Lifetime in January 2019 and the #MuteRKelly movement grew. Artists such as Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and the Pussycat Dolls{{cite web |last1=Tsioulcas |first1=Anastasia |last2=Dwyer |first2=Colin |title=The #MuteRKelly Movement Takes Its Protest To The Steps Of His Record Label |website=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685912752/the-muterkelly-movement-takes-its-protest-to-the-steps-of-his-record-label |publisher=NPR |accessdate=March 10, 2019}} apologized and took down their respective collaborations with Kelly from streaming services. Despite this, Kelly later worked with Bryson Tiller, Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber, Erykah Badu and Mary J. Blige.{{cite web |last1=Harris |first1=Ida |title=#MuteRKelly Is Working |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a20965079/muterkelly-is-working/ |website=Elle |date=May 30, 2018 |accessdate=March 16, 2019}}

The Time's Up movement released an open letter calling out Apple, Spotify, Ticketmaster, Sony Music and other companies to end their financial relationship with R. Kelly.{{cite news |last1=Coscarelli |first1=Joe |title=R. Kelly Faces a #MeToo Reckoning as Time's Up Backs a Protest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/arts/music/r-kelly-timesup-metoo-muterkelly.html |website=The New York Times |date=May 2018 |accessdate=March 11, 2019}}

The campaign was cited and addressed online by celebrities including Ava DuVernay, Lena Waithe, Lupita Nyong'o, Ne-Yo, and Tarana Burke.{{Cite web|date=2019-06-07|title=R. Kelly: #MeToo Founder Praises Ava DuVernay For Speaking Out|url=https://www.vibe.com/2019/06/tarana-burke-ava-duvernay-r-kelly|access-date=2020-06-07|website=Vibe|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=William|title=R. Kelly's fall comes as Chicago, black women finally turn their back on star|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-ae-rkelly-reaches-metoo-moment-0523-story.html|access-date=2020-06-07|website=chicagotribune.com|date=May 23, 2018 }}{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/r-kellys-sales-streams-guilty-verdict-1239159/amp/ | title=R. Kelly's Sales Soared 500 Percent After Guilty Verdicts | magazine=Rolling Stone | date=October 8, 2021 }}