The Women of Color contingent of the Time’s Up movement has announced that it is linking together with the #MuteRKelly campaign that was launched last year. WOC confirmed the partnership in a statement that on Monday (April 30) demanded the initiation of “appropriate investigations and inquiries into the allegations of R. Kelly’s abuse made by women of color and their families for over two decades now.”
Women of Color of Time’s Up, which includes Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rimes, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, are also asking other “corporations and venues,” including Kelly’s record label RCA Records, to cut ties with the singer.
We join the call to #MuteRKelly and insist on the safety + dignity of all women. We demand investigations into R. Kelly’s abuse allegations made by women of color + their families for two decades. We call on those who profit from his music to cut ties. #MuteRKelly #TIMESUP #WOC pic.twitter.com/TYmDRVIH00
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 30, 2018
The #MuteRKelly campaign revolves around a petition that was started up on the Care2 social networking site in July of 2017. The initiative urges citizens to sign on in an effort to move Sony and Live Nation to cut their business dealings with the Chicago crooner over the many allegations of sexual assault and statutory rape that have been made against him throughout his career. In the nearly ten months that have passed since the petition was started up, it’s received more than 65,000 signatures.
The letter put out by WOC adds RCA, Spotify, Apple Music, and Ticketmaster to the list of companies the group intends to target in an effort to pressure venues to drop his shows and music platforms to take him out of rotation.
The letter makes note of the recent Bill Cosby verdict and vows to push forward in bringing Kelly to justice the same, proclaiming that, “For too long, our community has ignored our pain.”
Click play to hear the Hollywood Live report from Tanya Hart:
