Lifetime's 'Surviving R. Kelly' Series Had Black Twitter In A Frenzy

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The highly anticipated Surviving R. Kelly docu-series aired Thursday night, and in true Black Twitter tradition, everyone watched together like one big happy family. The Dream Hampton produced series documented the sexual abuse allegations against the singer throughout his 30 year career. Needless to say, ish got deep.

The plan was also for Kelly’s celebrity colleagues to be interviewed about what it was like to work with the singer over the years, but according to Hampton, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Erykah Badu declined. Dave Chappelle, Mary J. Blige, Questlove and Lil’ Kim also declined to speak.

Hampton told Detroit Free Press, “Most people just don’t want to touch it. [Questlove] was like, ‘I would do anything for you but I can’t do this.’ It’s not because they support him, it’s because it’s so messy and muddy. It’s that turning away that has allowed this to go on.”

Quest also took to Twitter the day that Surviving R. Kelly premiered, just to make it clear why he wasn’t apart of it. He tweeted (then deleted),

“I always thought Kels was trash. My reason for declining the RKelly docu that I support 10000000 percent is I didn’t wanna be in the ‘good times’ portion of the doc, like stanning for his ‘genius.’ I was asked to talk about his genius. I do not nor have I EVER stanned for him.”

Usually something so heavy has mixed reaction. But after watching the series, most people unanimously agree that it time we be done with R. Kelly, as a culture. But the truth of the matter is, we should have been done 25 years ago.

https://twitter.com/trustmeimmary/status/1081195904437243904

Oddly enough though, there are still folks out there defending their Pied Piper. One person tweeted, “Alright R.Kelly is a rapist but Trapped in closet was genius.”

Another Kelly stan wrote, “I love r. Kelly. He’s a music genius. That doesn’t mean I support abuse. If he hadn’t fucked up his legacy with the shit, he apparently likes to do outside of muisc ; everyone would still bump him with no hesitation. Like everyone still loves the Cosby show.”

But let’s be honest guys, some of ya’ll would believe the shocking allegations if they didn’t come from young, Black women. Vanessa Butler made a great point when she tweeted, “Bill Cosby raped white young girls and now he is in prison. R Kelly raped black young girls and he is being protected. Hmmm.”

Facts, Vanessa! The rest of the six-part docuseries airs tonight on Lifetime. Hit the flip for some of the wildest reactions to Surviving R. Kelly.