

R Kelly performing in Detroit in 2018. Photograph: Scott Legato/Getty Images Executive producer Dream Hampton rights the R&B singer’s former collaborators Céline Dion, Erykah Badu, Dave Chapelle and Questlove also turned down interviews.



Former RKelly collaborators Lady Gaga and Jay-Z are among the musical group who have declined to be questioned for a documentary series on the R&B star’s suspected history of manipulation against young females. “It was extremely difficult to get people who had collaborated with Kelly to come forward,” Surviving R Kelly executive producer Dream Hampton told the Detroit Free Press . Kelly has often denied the claims.





Kelly collaborators Erykah Badu , Céline Dion and DaveChappelle turned down interviews, said Dream Hampton , and Questlove, drummer with the Roots , also allegedly denied to participate. “I remember Ahmir [“Questlove” Thompson] was like, ‘I would do anything for you but I can’t do this’,” said hampton. “It’s not because they support him, it’s because it’s so messy and muddy. It’s that turning away that has allowed this to go on.”





In now-deleted tweets , Questlove appealed he declined an interview because he thought he was only being asked to tribute Kelly and not doom him. “I always thought Kels was waste,” he wrote. In another deleted tweet, Hampton disputed Questlove’s claims, adding: “I told you I need Black male allies.” source has contacted representatives for Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Badu, Dion, Chapelle and Questlove.





In the end, John Legend and US R&B artist Stephanie “ Sparkle ” were the only performers interviewed in the documentary series. Hampton described Legend as a “hero” for talking out against Kelly. Legend responded on Twitter : “To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all. I believe these women.”





He further said “These survivors deserved to be lifted up and heard. I hope it gets them closer to some kind of justice.”





On Twitter, Hampton said she hoped “the absence of celebrities really isn’t the takeaway today. Even if they’d said yes, the non-celebrities would’ve been featured more than them.” More than 50 people are questioned in the documentary, including Kelly’s ex-wife, Andrea Kelly who has accused him of numerous incidents of domestic violence , ex-girlfriend Kitti Jones, who has accused Kelly of physical and mental abuse , and Time’s Up founder Tarana Burke.





In early December, the New York City premiere of the series was cancelled after an unidentified shooting threat was made to the venue. Andrea Kelly stated Rolling Stone that she believes Kelly “had this shut down” . Kelly’s legal legislatures had threatened to sue the US channel Lifetime if it aired the series, appealing that the documentary is littered with false claims and that its subjects are insulting Kelly for personal advantage.





Lizzette Martinez, Andrea Kelly, Lisa Van Allen, Tarana Burke, Kitti Jones, Jerhonda Pace, Asante McGee and Gretchen Carlson attend the premiere of Surviving R Kelly in New York City, which was cancelled last-minute after an anonymous gun threat. Photograph: Chance Yeh/Getty Images



The first two episodes of the six-part series were shown on Lifetime on 3 January, and focus on the beginning of Kelly’s career, prior to the emergence of a 2002 sex tape that would lead to his trial and acquittal.



The first episode details Kelly’s relationship with the late R&B singer Aaliyah , including claims that Kelly, then 27, was seen having sex with the teenager on a tour bus, and that forged paperwork led to their illegal marriage when she was 15. Kelly’s former tour manager and personal assistant also claims that Kelly impregnated the young singer, who died in a plane crash in 2001.



Two women requested that Kelly was sexually involved with girls as young as 14. Sparkle recalled Kelly mentoring her niece when she was 12. The girl apparently appeared in the sex tape that led to Kelly’s trial when she was 14. Singer Jovante Cunningham demanded that Kelly made teenage girls perform sexual acts in public, and had sex with a teenage girl in the studio with other people present. Lizzette Martinez, who stated Kelly impregnated her while she was in high school, said that Kelly told her to “perform sexual acts while his friends were in the back seat”.





Andrea Kelly sued that her ex-husband involved her in an elaborate wedding ceremony without her prior knowledge. She labelled this as among the first times she realized he was “controlling”.





In 2000, Chicago Sun Times journalist Jim DeRogatis was the first reporter to report on allegations that Kelly had sex with teenage girls . In 2002, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography. He was cleared on 14 counts in 2007. It would take a decade – during which Kelly enjoyed chart success, cult acclaim for his spoof series Trapped in the Closet, and tastemaker support – for claims of Kelly’s sexual impropriety to find public traction. In July 2017, DeRogatis reported for BuzzFeed that Kelly was holding women in a “sex cult”, a story that led to more women accusing Kelly of sexual and physical abuse, and the decline of Kelly’s reputation.





Kelly has generally denied the accusations, and described as “too late” the #MuteRKelly campaign, which urges record labels, promoters and other parties with financial interests in Kelly to sever their ties with him. In July 2018, he released a 19-minute song, I Admit, in which he denied the allegations but “admitted” to sleeping with fans and having parents “push” their daughters on him “to get paid”. He also reiterated claims that he was sexually abused by a family member as a child.



