Just one day after R. Kelly issued a statement to defend himself against the months-long wave of sex cult allegations, a new movement has emerged with demands against the R&B singer: #MuteRKelly.
Award-winning film director Ava DuVernay started the conversation with the hashtag, which is among the top of Twitter’s trending topics, on Monday (April 30). She connected her official announcement to another major movement recently endorsed by Hollywood and calling for an end to the previously silenced culture of sexual assault and misconduct, Time’s Up.
“We join the call to #MuteRKelly and insist on the safety and dignity of all women,” she wrote in a tweet. “We demand investigations into R. Kelly’s abuse allegations made by women of color and their families for two decades.”
DuVernay demanded that those who benefit from profitable relationships with him and his music cut ties as well, bringing others who joined her to call on TIDAL, Spotify and Apple Music to remove his work from their music-streaming services. And as her call regarding this subject, celebrities are following suit.
Below are some of the tweets;