Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault, and rape. If you or someone you know are affected by the following story, you are not alone. To speak to someone, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
R. Kelly’s troubles keep on coming, with a page dedicated to slandering his many accusers being removed by Facebook.
If you’ve not been paying too much attention to the R. Kelly saga recently, it’s worth noting that last week saw the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly, a documentary dedicated to outlining and discussing the many accusations against the artist.
Featuring interviews with his accusers and other people who have worked with him, the documentary has been a major success for the Lifetime network, breaking viewership records in the process.
However, R. Kelly himself is not pleased, reportedly saying he is “disgusted” by the documentary’s content (despite not having viewed it), and has plans to “sue everyone” involved the production of the show.
Now, it seems that R. Kelly’s efforts to silence his accusers have spread online.
As TMZ reported, a now-defunct Facebook page appeared online earlier today, which aimed to discredit and slander the accusers of R. Kelly.
Reportedly run by the artist’s team, the page (which was titled ‘Surviving Lies’) used its first post to attack Asante McGee, one of the women who accused R. Kelly of running a “sex cult”, claiming he kept her as a sex slave.
The page claimed that McGee was working with the parents of Jocelyn Savage (who believe their daughter is currently living as one of R. Kelly’s alleged sex slaves), as a means to extort money from the artist.
As Vulture notes, BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac managed to screenshot images of the page before it was taken down.
A Facebook page created yesterday is now running ads to smear R Kelly's accusers. The page paints Kelly as someone "surviving lies." pic.twitter.com/hbwZ4DXXiz
— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) January 7, 2019
https://twitter.com/RMac18/status/1082420418848288768
After being asked as to why the page was removed, a spokesperson for Facebook explained it was taken down because it “violated our Community Standards”.
“We do not tolerate bullying or sharing someone’s private contact information and take action on content that violates our policies as soon as we’re aware,” the spokesperson continued.
However, this appears to be just one example of R. Kelly’s team going into damage control, with The Blast reporting that the artist’s manager allegedly threatened the parents of one victim involved in the documentary.
According to police reports, the parents of Joycelyn Savage called police on January 3rd, claiming they were receiving threats from a man who claimed to be Don Russell, the manager for R. Kelly.
Joycelyn’s father Timothy alleged that Russell had sent him text messages stating that “it would be best for him and his family if the documentary does not air.”
Likewise, police were reportedly present for a phone call in which the caller stated the info given to Lifetime was false, and the subsequent efforts to disprove the claims would destroy Timothy’s “reputation, business, and family” because he would be known as a liar.
Neither R. Kelly or his team have made any public statements acknowledging the since-removed Facebook page.
Check out Lisa Van Allen and Asante McGee in Surviving R. Kelly:
