"Surviving R. Kelly" offers a closer look at the allegations leveled against the star.
R. Kelly's songs are reportedly seeing a spike in streaming on Spotify, following the premiere of the Lifetime docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly.”
Since the six-hour series, which tells harrowing stories of alleged sexual abuse by the singer, debuted, streams of Kelly's music on Spotify have jumped 16 percent. The spike has prompted some to call on the streaming platform to remove Kelly's music from their libraries.
Spotify has not commented on the boost.
Many stars are also getting a lot of heat for not speaking out in the documentary, including Lady Gaga and Jay Z.
Gaga and the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer performed together on several TV appearances, while Jay Z and Kelly released a couple duet albums together, 2002’s “Best of Both Worlds” and 2004’s “Unfinished Business.”
John Legend, the only big star to appear in the documentary, was unfazed by the praise he's been getting for his bravery. "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*** about protecting a serial child rapist,” Legend tweeted on Jan. 3. “Easy decision.”
But the docu-series has inspired some to reflect on their relationship with Kelly. Common spoke to TMZ Tuesday about how he believes he failed Kelly's accusers.
"I'm guilty of that too myself because I didn't stop and be like, 'Yo,' and speak against this," he said. "R. Kelly's from my hometown. At the end of the day, he's a human being. He has his issues and we see that, but I can't condone that and I shouldn't be allowing that to happen.
"We failed our community as black people."
Chance the Rapper also apologized for working with Kelly in the past.
R. Kelly has denied all the allegations of physical abuse and sexual misconduct.
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