Mega-popular R & B singer R. Kelly recently released a new album, and despite child pornography allegations last summer, has found widespread support from fans. Even though Kelly is talented, fans should think twice about embracing an accused sex offender.
Kelly’s new album, Chocolate Factory, is filled with graphic sexual content, as most of his albums are. It makes few references to the 21 counts of child pornography Kelly was indicted for last June, unlike the shameless “Heaven, I Need a Hug,” released last summer.
The trial is set for March 2003. Whether Kelly is guilty of the child pornography allegations will be decided then. In the meantime, fans should think long and hard about praising a musician with a reputation for having an affinity to underage girls.
For three years before the videotape that sparked the indictment was delivered to the Chicago Sun-Times, police investigated allegations that Kelly slept with the 14-year-old niece of his manager, Barry Hankerson. The videotape allegedly depicted Kelly having sex with the girl.
Age did not deter Kelly in 1994 when he, then 27, married fellow star Aaliyah, who was only 15 years old.
Three lawsuits have already been filed accusing Kelly of engaging in sex with underage girls. Two of the lawsuits were settled out of court, while the third is being fought out in the courtroom.
The tape that led to the indictment was not the first tape of that kind to surface. A year earlier, another tape was delivered to the Chicago-Sun Times that depicted Kelly with a young girl.
A fourth lawsuit has also been filed by a woman claiming that, unbeknownst to her, Kelly videotaped their sexual endeavors.
Prior to a split with Kelly, Hankerson, along with other associates, urged Kelly to seek help for what they described as “an ongoing compulsion.”
Kelly denies that he appeared in the second video, while his defense attorney insists that the girl in the video was of legal age.
Charges against Kelly are limited now to pornography related crimes, but if it is proven that Kelly is the man on the video, he could face charges for having sex with a minor.
If the Chicago Police Department’s lengthy investigation yields no conviction, then Kelly shouldn’t be viewed differently than any other artist. If, however, the writer of “Feelin’ On Yo Booty” is convicted, then fans and radio stations alike will have to make the choice of whether to support a sex offender.
Kelly’s questionable history and the abundance of evidence against him point to his involvement in filming himself having sex with a minor. Mere musical talent and success cannot be an overriding factor in how people view him.
If Kelly is convicted, then he should be judged on that above all else. Fans should not turn a blind eye to flaws of such magnitude. Support for him after a conviction will be support for a sexual predator.
Josh Foreman is a junior communication major.