In an illuminating interview with freelance writer and Rookie music editor Jessica Hopper for The Village Voice, music journalist Jim DeRogatis discusses the many, many underreported stories of R. Kelly's history of sexual assault.
DeRogatis, now a professor at Columbia College Chicago, was the first to report on the charges against R. Kelly, when he was the pop-music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times 15 years ago. As Hopper writes, DeRogatis "was anonymously delivered the first of two videos he would receive depicting the pop star engaging in sexual acts with underage girls." He's since been one of the only journalists, along with his Sun colleague Abdon Pallaschhom, to consistently report on the accusations of assault against Kelly over the last decade-plus.
Below are some of the most important quotes from Hopper's interview with DeRogatis about R. Kelly's alleged crimes, and why more journalists and fans are not talking about them.
DeRogatis on the initial reports of R. Kelly's sex with minors:
They were stomach churning. The one young woman, who had been 14 or 15 when R. Kelly began a relationship with her, detailed in great length, in her affidavits, a sexual relationship that began at Kenwood Academy: He would go back in the early years of his success and go to Lina McLin's gospel choir class. She's a legend in Chicago, gospel royalty. He would go to her sophomore class and hook up with girls afterward and have sex with them. Sometimes buy them a pair of sneakers. Sometimes just letting them hang out in his presence in the recording studio. She detailed the sexual relationship that she was scarred by. It lasted about one and a half to two years, and then he dumped her and she slit her wrists, tried to kill herself. Other girls were involved. She recruited other girls. He picked up other girls and made them all have sex together. A level of specificity that was pretty disgusting.
On why more journalists aren't reporting about the accusations against Kelly:
There's another reason: People are squeamish. I think a lot of people don't know how to do it, don't care to do it, and it's way too much work. It's just kind of disgusting to have to write about this and bum everyone out, when you just want to review a record.
On why the case of R. Kelly is different than other problematic signers with history of abuse, like James Brown or Led Zeppelin:
I think in the history of rock & roll, rock-music or pop-culture people misbehaving and behaving badly sexually with young women, rare is the amount of evidence compiled against anyone apart from R. Kelly. Dozens of girls -- not one, not two, dozens -- with harrowing lawsuits. The videotapes -- and not just one videotape, numerous videotapes. And not Tommy Lee/Pam Anderson, Kardashian fun video. You watch the video for which he was indicted and there is the disembodied look of the rape victim.
On how Kelly pressured one young woman into having an abortion:
There was a young woman that he picked up on the evening of her prom. The relationship lasted a year and a half or two years. Impregnated her, paid for her abortion, had his goons drive her. None of which she wanted. She sued him. The saddest fact I've learned is: Nobody matters less to our society than young black women. Nobody.
On the responsibility of publications to at least acknowledge the acts, and have a critical discussion of what it means to like his music:
If you have an emotional reaction to a work of art and you use all your skills as a critic to back it up with evidence and context. That's all we can ask of anybody. We're all viewing art differently. The joy is in the conversation. Pitchfork is the premier critical organ in the United States for smart discussion of music, books, and artists, but it doesn't have this discussion. Reviews his records but doesn't have the conversation about, "What does it say for us to like his music?"
Rapes, plural. It is on record. Rapes in the dozen. So stop hedging your words and when you tell me what a brilliant ode to pussy Black Panties is, then realize that the next sentence should say: "This, from a man who has committed numerous rapes."
Read the full interview at The Village Voice, along with the court files and Jim DeRogatis' Sun-Times reporting on the case against R. Kelly.
The internet has already begun reacting to the interview, with many coming forward with their own stories about the singer.
Writer Roxane Gay was amazed at the debate:
It remains insane to me that we are debating at R Kelly. I remember when he married Aaliyah at 15. He is a predator and always has been.
Roxane Gay
@rgay
It remains insane to me that we are debating at R Kelly. I remember when he married Aaliyah at 15. He is a predator and always has been.
Some people compared R. Kelly's reception to Beyoncé's:
As non legally consensual child abuse by R. Kelly is praised, adult, married, consensual sex and love between Bey/J is shamed.
Trudy
@thetrudz
As non legally consensual child abuse by R. Kelly is praised, adult, married, consensual sex and love between Bey/J is shamed.
Black girls are abused, that's viewed as a sexual choice. BW have sexual agency in consensual relationships that's viewed as abuse. Binary.
Trudy
@thetrudz
Black girls are abused, that's viewed as a sexual choice. BW have sexual agency in consensual relationships that's viewed as abuse. Binary.
Mikki Kendall recounted her encounters with R. Kelly as a teenager:
R. Kelly's fondness for visiting Kenwood is well known here so it wasn't a shock to see him flirting with teenagers.
Mikki Kendall
@Karnythia
R. Kelly's fondness for visiting Kenwood is well known here so it wasn't a shock to see him flirting with teenagers.
My first sighting of him was in 88 when I was 12 & he was chatting up some high school girls. They were in Kenwood jackets.
Mikki Kendall
@Karnythia
My first sighting of him was in 88 when I was 12 & he was chatting up some high school girls. They were in Kenwood jackets.
I never knew the details, I just knew that the girls were talked about for being fast & that he said the same things to all of them.
Mikki Kendall
@Karnythia
I never knew the details, I just knew that the girls were talked about for being fast & that he said the same things to all of them.
For some people, these accusations were new information:
how am i supposed to listen to do what you want with my body now that I know r kelly has been accused of rape several times
karla xcx
@mistletoezustin
how am i supposed to listen to do what you want with my body now that I know r kelly has been accused of rape several times
Some people considered the conflict between liking a song and hating the artist:
R. Kelly is a sexual deviant. If you give a sexual deviant money for a sexually explicit album, it says [something] about you on some level.
Michael Arceneaux
@youngsinick
R. Kelly is a sexual deviant. If you give a sexual deviant money for a sexually explicit album, it says [something] about you on some level.
At the very least, it says you are willing to compromise on principle for the sake of entertainment -- something most of us are guilty of.
Michael Arceneaux
@youngsinick
At the very least, it says you are willing to compromise on principle for the sake of entertainment -- something most of us are guilty of.
I have admitted that some of Pissy's new songs are good, but I don't give him my money & I now worry Jesus is gonna bitch slap me.
Michael Arceneaux
@youngsinick
I have admitted that some of Pissy's new songs are good, but I don't give him my money & I now worry Jesus is gonna bitch slap me.
If you find yourself inconvenienced to have folk remind you that R. Kelly is a pervert while you listen to his music, think of his victims.
Michael Arceneaux
@youngsinick
If you find yourself inconvenienced to have folk remind you that R. Kelly is a pervert while you listen to his music, think of his victims.
Some women tweeted about how they felt when they were underage and approached by men:
I wish I could explain how it makes a young girl feel to have a grown man disregard her age and make sexual advances toward her.
Ashley Ford
@iSmashFizzle
I wish I could explain how it makes a young girl feel to have a grown man disregard her age and make sexual advances toward her.
I will never forget the moment a man invited me to his hotel room, and I told him I was 12, then he repeated the damn offer.
Ashley Ford
@iSmashFizzle
I will never forget the moment a man invited me to his hotel room, and I told him I was 12, then he repeated the damn offer.
I didn't have the emotional tools NOT to feel like I was gross. He said, "What yo mama been feeding you to make your ass so fat?" I was 12.
Ashley Ford
@iSmashFizzle
I didn't have the emotional tools NOT to feel like I was gross. He said, "What yo mama been feeding you to make your ass so fat?" I was 12.
I went back to my family's hotel room near tears, changing out of the skirt I was so proud to wear, still feeling like he was all over me.
Ashley Ford
@iSmashFizzle
I went back to my family's hotel room near tears, changing out of the skirt I was so proud to wear, still feeling like he was all over me.
Rapper Jean Grae questioned why people care all of a sudden:
So. I have to ask for real. If R. Kelly had THE JAM out right now. Y'all still be mad or no? Cause you had this info before.
LIFE WITH JEANNIE
@JeanGreasy
So. I have to ask for real. If R. Kelly had THE JAM out right now. Y'all still be mad or no? Cause you had this info before.
Ultimately, many people have come to settle with the fact that they love the music, but despise the man:
I've defended R. Kelly's music over the years, he is a dynamic outrageous artist. But as a human.......I think I'm done.
annkpowers
@annkpowers
I've defended R. Kelly's music over the years, he is a dynamic outrageous artist. But as a human.......I think I'm done.
Update: Kelly responded to the article and the resurrected conversation on the air during an interview with Atlanta's V-103.
When asked about the story, Kelly chose to brush it off. "Well I feel like I got the football man, and I'm running towards the touchdown and if I stop and look back or mess around, I'll get tackled," he explained.
The singer squashed the conversation by simply saying those who want to talk bad about him should just listen to the final track on his new album, aptly titled "Shut Up."
CORRECTION: Jim DeRogatis is a professor at Columbia College Chicago. An earlier version of this post said he is a professor at Columbia University. (12/16/13)
h/t: @mariahgenee