American singer-songwriter and actress Lady Gaga (age 32) took to Twitter to apologize for her past collaboration with American R&B singer-songwriter R. Kelly (age 52) after the high-profile “Lifetime” docuseries called “Surviving R. Kelly” was aired. Lady Gaga was under fire for refusing to participate and speak up in the “Surviving R. Kelly” series.
“Surviving R. Kelly” executive producer Dream Hampton called out Lady Gaga when she refused to be in the series. Dream Hampton wanted to ask Lady Gaga some questions.
I wanted to know how Lady Gaga could be on SNL with him as someone who advocates for domestic abuse survivors and was, you know, had this ridiculous performance with him on SNL.
Lady Gaga not only worked with R. Kelly. She also defended R. Kelly in 2013 during a press conference in Japan when she was asked why she worked with R. Kelly after his child p*rn*graphy trial. Lady Gaga stated:
R. Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us.
Many people are disappointed over Lady Gaga’s decision to work with R. Kelly amid abuse accusations against R. Kelly. One user tweeted:
Everyone knew this sh*t about R Kelly for years and Lady Gaga still collaborated with him.
Another one said:
I’m confused how #LadyGaga can be so vocal in her support of #MeToo yet remain silent about R. Kelly who by the time she collaborated with him was a well known p*d*phile and s*xual predator.
Another wrote:
While Lady Gaga is getting ready for the #GoldenGlobes…she is still silent on R. Kelly…Jay Z, who during that time did a collaboration album with him, also choose to stay silent… Is this your pop queen? Is this your Hip-hop king?
Because of the backlash, Lady Gaga, who starred in critically acclaimed 2018 movie “A Star is Born”, recently stated on Twitter that she stands by “anyone who has ever been the victim of s*xual assault”.
On the tweet, Lady Gaga explained why she asked R. Kelly to work with her on her single “Do What U Want (With My Body)” back in 2013 which was not only controversial for its lyrics, but also because it happened five years after the child p*rn*graphy trial of R. Kelly.
I stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain, and feel strongly that their voices should be heard and taken seriously. What I am hearing about the allegations against R. Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible.
As a victim of s*xual assault myself, I made both the song and video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life. The song is called ‘Do What U Want (With My Body)’, I think it’s clear how explicitly twisted my thinking was at the time.
If I could go back and have a talk with my younger self, I’d tell her to go through therapy I have since then, so that I could understand the confused post-traumatic state that I was in — or if therapy was not available to me or anyone in my situation — to seek help, and speak as openly and honestly as possible about what we’ve been through.
I can’t go back, but I can go forward and continue to support women, men, and people of all s*xual identities, and of all races, who are victims of s*xual assualt.
I have demonstrated my stance on this issue and others many times throughout my career. I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain. Til it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels. But I do know how I feel now.
I intend to remove this song off of iTunes and other streaming platforms and will not be working with him again. I’m sorry, both for my poor judgment when I was young, and for not speaking out sooner. I love you.
Lady Gaga revealed in the October cover story for Vogue that until now, she still tries to cope with the s*xual assault she experienced when she was 19 years old. She first revealed this traumatic experience to public in an interview with Howard Stern back in 2014.
No one else knew. It was almost like I tried to erase it from my brain. And when it finally came out, it was like a big, ugly monster. And you have to face the monster to heal.
Lady Gaga published her statement about R. Kelly after the highly rated “Surviving R. Kelly” (a six-part, three-night docuseries) was aired. “Surviving R. Kelly” premiered on January 3, 2019 featuring #MetToo founder and civil rights activist Tarana Burke, singer-songwriter John Legend, and many others. It aired across three nights, starting Jan. 3 to Jan. 5. It was a documentary about years of abuse and p*d*philia claims against R. Kelly.
“Surviving R. Kelly” features over 50 interviews, and dives deeper into R. Kelly’s history of s*xually abusing women and minors, like the scandalous video which was exposed back in 2002. In that video, R. Kelly was seen urinating on an underage girl, approximately 13 years old. Both R. Kelly and the alleged underage girl denied they were the ones featured on the controversial video.
R. Kelly was also charged with possession of child p*rn*graphy. But in the end, a jury later found R. Kelly not guilty. Since then, a lot of women have come forward, claiming they were physically abused, too, by R. Kelly. But R. Kelly have been denying all the accusations against him.
According to TMZ, R. Kelly threatened to sue the “Lifetime” network if they air the “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries.
Dream Hampton, the executive producer of “Surviving R. Kelly” (she’s also an American cultural critic and filmmaker), stated that the goal of the series is to give a voice to R. Kelly’s alleged victims. She said:
We wanted irrefutable evidence. Without leading any of these women, they all had the exact same stories, even if their interactions with R. Kelly were 15 years apart. All of them have stories about being physically abused, being videotaped without consent, being denied food or bathroom privileges as a punishment. All of them have stories about rules that were established early on.
The “Surviving R. Kelly” series has been getting a lot of attention. It was reportedly viewed by 2.1 million people, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day ratings. Among adults aged 25-54 and 18-49, 1.2 million tuned in; that includes 858,000 women aged 25-54 and 798,000 women 18-49.
TMZ reported that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in Georgia has opened a criminal investigation into the “Surviving” allegations.
