John Legend Is The Only Artist To Speak Out Against R Kelly In Documentary

John Legend is the only star to appear in the documentary Surviving R Kelly. The first of the six-parter aired on Lifetime on Thursday, interviewing dozens former friends, family members and colleagues about the singer who all make grim claims about the singer abusing women and young girls.

But Legend is essentially the only fellow artist who agreed to speak out where many more declined.

'R. Kelly has brought so much pain to so many people,' John says in an interview. 'Time’s up for R. Kelly.'


Producer dream hampton claimed Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Dave Chappelle, Celine Dion, Erykah Badu, Mary J. Blige, Lil Kim and Questlove all refused to participate.

'When it comes to celebrities, It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated (artistically) with Kelly to come forward, she told Detroit Free Press, pointing out that Gaga, Badu, Dion, Jay-Z and Chappelle had all been critical of him in the past.

'That makes John Legend even more of a hero for me,' she said.

On Thursday night John tweeted: 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 f*ck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.'

She also told Shadow And Act most people just don't want to touch it, adding that Questlove told her "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,' she said. 'It's that turning away that has allowed this to go on.'

After this interview was published on Thursday Questlove took to Twitter to try clarify his position.

'I always thought Kels was trash. My reason for declining the R Kelly 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,' he wrote.