“Surviving R. Kelly” premiered Thursday night on the Lifetime channel and all aspects of the explosive docuseries was trending all over social media. The first of three installments examined more than two decades of R. Kelly allegedly sexually assaulting children and women. The other two episodes were scheduled to air Friday and Saturday.
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Several survivors spoke out during the first episode to provide firsthand accounts of Kelly’s relationship with the late, great Aaliyah. However, Aaliyah’s mother, Diane Haughton, said in a statement, “Shame on all those involved in this project who thought it kosher to drag Aaliyah’s name into a situation that has nothing to do with her today. Once again, this will not be tolerated.” Haughton also called the candid accounts “lies and fabrications” that “can not be tolerated and allowed to be spewed from the forked tongues of saboteurs of Aaliyah’s legacy.”
Nonetheless, the stories from people close in Kelly’s circle — including but not limited to the singer’s brother, Bruce, ex-wife Andrea and singer Sparkle — were powerful and important. They just might be the final blow to his career, which he may be bracing for considering his lawyer threatened Thursday to file a federal lawsuit to prevent Lifetime from airing the docuseries.
Obviously, “Surviving R. Kelly” still aired and Twitter was sounding off, nearly universally slamming the singer. See the reactions below.
