(Photo Credit: Michael Kovac/Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Last night ( Jan. 3), many were huddled up in front of their televisions to watch the first two episodes of Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries.
On the first episode, John Legend made an appearance to speak about R. Kelly’s beginnings, and legacy as a producer, singer, and songwriter.
Most praised Legend for making the apperance, but as he revealed in a Tweet, the decision was easy for him.
We should all thank my friend @dreamhampton for her very necessary work to create #SurvivingRKelly. These survivors deserved to be lifted up and heard. I hope it gets them closer to some kind of justice.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) January 4, 2019
To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all. I believe these women and don’t give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) January 4, 2019
Also I’m happy to support the work of people like my friends at @ALongWalkHome who have been speaking out on behalf of the survivors for a long time.
— John Legend (@johnlegend) January 4, 2019
During a recent interview with the Shadow and Act, executive producer Dream Hampton revealed that Questlove had declined an opportunity to appear on the program.
“I mean, most people just don’t want to touch it,” she said. “I remember [Questlove] was like, ‘I would do anything for you but I can’t do this.’ 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.”
He then responded on Twitter.
I always thought Kels was trash,” he wrote in the now deleted Tweet. “My reason for declining the RKelly docu that I support 10000000 percent is I didn’t wanna be in the ‘good times’ portion of the doc, like stanning for his ‘genius.’ I was asked to talk about his genius. I do not nor have I EVER stanned for him.”