After years of reports and high-profile allegations, it seems a Lifetime documentary finally did the trick.
Sony Music is dropping its "working relationship with R. Kelly," Variety first reported Friday. The move comes after decades of allegations that Kelly sexually abused women and minors, and was made via an agreement between the company and the R&B singer, Billboard reports.
Kelly has been accused of running a "cult" of "brainwashed" women he draws in by promising affection or mentorship, most notably detailed in a massive BuzzFeed News report published in July 2017. The viral call to #MuteRKelly in the wake of that report prompted some responses, but a real turning point came last month with the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly. After several women and their families shared their emotional stories of abuse by Kelly onscreen, Lady Gaga took down her collaboration with Kelly, and now it seems Sony has taken action.
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RCA Records, which represents Kelly, and its parent company Sony haven't officially announced the decision, but RCA Records no longer features Kelly on its website. Reports of Sony's decision came just as Kelly's former manager turned himself in on charges of making terroristic threats against a family who appeared in Surviving R. Kelly, per The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Kelly is also under investigation in Georgia and Chicago.
Variety asked RCA and Sony for comment, and both companies declined. Billboard's requests for comment haven't yet been answered.
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