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#MuteRKelly: Twitter Launches Viral Campaign To End The Pied Piper's Career

Apparently, the campaign has already made an impact on Kelly's tour schedule.

Since the Me Too movement launched at the end of 2017, dozens of high-profile celebrities in Hollywood have been exposed and vilified for rape, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct. While men like Russell Simmons, Kevin Spacey, and others’ careers have suffered significantly, R. Kelly, a known alleged abuser, is still making money and prospering despite the numerous allegations brought against him. But a new Twitter hashtag campaign is hoping to change all of that. #MuteRKelly is a social movement reportedly launched to end Kelly’s career once and for all.

Oronike Odeleye, the Atlanta-based managing director of the Creative Currents Artist Collaborative, reportedly started the hashtag as a branch of the Me Too movement. Odeleye was reportedly responsible for launching a petition last year in hopes of having Kelly prosecuted for his alleged abuse. “I have been hearing about R. Kelly’s sexual abuse of young black women since I was in my teens. Every few years more women come out with their stories. More images and videos surface.  More black girls are scarred for life just as they are coming into their womanhood and sexuality,” Odeleye told theGrio. “There is a pariah in our community that we all know about, yet we all have continued to stand by and do nothing. We continue to dance to his music in the club, play it at our family reunions, celebrate to it at our weddings.”

Although the Odeleye’s original petition garnered some attention, she hopes the hashtag will take the movement to the next level. “Someone had to stand up for Black women, and if I wasn’t willing to do my part — no matter how small — then I couldn’t continue to complain. It’s time for us to end this man’s career. Enough is beyond enough,” she declared.

As previously reported, Kelly has a long history of allegedly abusing Black women. Last year, the Pied Piper was recently accused of holding a number of women against their will in his homes in Chicago and Atlanta. A number of alleged victims and families have come forward on the record to speak about the abuse they’ve suffered.

Apparently, the #MuteRKelly movement has already had an impact. The hashtag has resulted in the cancellations of eight concerts in Baton Rouge, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Oklahoma City, according to theGrio. 

Check out the viral movement below. 

  1. A New Campaign To #MuteRKelly Is Going Viral

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