Executive produced for Lifetime Television | Copyright 2018.
#Mute R. Kelly
If you haven’t watched Surviving R. Kelly six-part documentary on the Lifetime Network yet, I urge you to do so. It is extremely difficult to watch, especially for survivors of rape and sexual assault, but I believe the women who are speaking out about their experiences need to be heard.
I muted R. Kelly years ago once I found out about the pornographic tape of him with an underage age girl. I can’t listen to his music, I don’t watch award shows where he is being “honored,” and I wouldn’t go to one of his concerts even if I was getting paid to attend. With all the trauma I have experienced with sexual abuse, I cannot support predators or anyone who supports them. Regardless if R. Kelly was found not guilty in court (based on a technicality), the video stands for itself. The girl in the video is underage and that in itself is a crime. I haven’t watched the video, I’ve only seen what is shown in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary.
Lifetime’s Best Performance
The premiere of Lifetime’s ground-breaking documentary series Surviving R. Kelly captivated audiences and commanded the social conversation, delivering 1.9 million Total Viewers and marking Lifetime’s best performance in more than two years in all key demos including Adults 25-54 (1.2 million), Adults 18-49 (1.1 million), Women 25-54 (837,000), and Women 18-49 (767,000), according to Nielsen Media Research.
“A frightening picture is finally starting to take shape of a man whose dark past has gone largely ignored for years.” Dream Hampton, Executive Producer of Surviving R. Kelly
About Surviving R. Kelly
In the ground-breaking documentary series Surviving R. Kelly, women are emerging from the shadows and uniting their voices to share their stories. Celebrated as one of the greatest R&B singers of all time, R. Kelly’s genre-defining career and playboy lifestyle has been riddled with rumors of abuse, predatory behavior, and pedophilia. Despite damning evidence and multiple witnesses, to date, none of these accusations have seemingly affected him. For the first time ever, survivors and people from R. Kelly’s inner circle, are coming forward with new allegations about his sexual, mental, and physical abuse. They are now finally ready to share their full story and shed light on the secret life the public has never seen.
With over 50 interviews including civil rights activist Tarana Burke, musicians John Legend and Sparkle, talk-show host and former DJ Wendy Williams, ex-wife Andrea Kelly, ex-girlfriend Kitti Jones, brothers Carey and Bruce Kelly, and many others, the true story of R. Kelly’s controversial past will be revealed beginning in 1970 through present day, shedding light on the R&B star whose history of alleged abuse of underage African American girls has, until recently, been largely ignored by mainstream media.
Surviving R. Kelly is executive produced by cultural critic, filmmaker and passionate activist Dream Hampton, Tamara Simmons, Joel Karlsberg and Jesse Daniels for Kreativ Inc. which has a production deal with Bunim/Murray Productions (BMP), and Brie Miranda Bryant from Lifetime. This program falls under Lifetime’s commitment to providing a platform to give women a voice where they have previously been unheard to bring awareness to the abuses and harassment of women.
Tanara Burke – Activist and Founder of the Me Too Movement
#MeToo Movement
Activist Tanara Burket founded the “Me Too” movement over a decade ago. The mission of the “Me Too” to connect survivors of sexual assault to the resources they need in order to heal. Tarana began ‘Me Too’ originally to help young Black women and girls from low wealth communities. She developed culturally-informed curriculum to discuss sexual violence within the Black community and in society at large. Similarly, the ‘me too’ movement seeks to support folks working within their communities to attend to the specific needs of their community/communities, i.e. supporting disabled trans survivors of color working to lead and craft events/toolkits/etc. with other disabled trans survivors. Together, we can uplift and support each other to strengthen a global movement to interrupt sexual violence. More information on the “Me Too” movement can be found here: MeToo
