Remix To Freedom: R. Kelly Gets 30 Years In Prison
Turns out age is more than just a number & I'm glad this monster is going to prison for a long time, hopefully for the rest of his days since he'd be 85 by the time he got out.
Via Reuters:
R. Kelly was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 years in prison, following the multiplatinum R&B singer's conviction for exploiting his stardom and wealth over decades to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn federal court said the evidence reflected Kelly's "indifference to human suffering" and "sheer brutality" toward his victims.
"This case is not about sex. It's about violence and cruelty and control," Donnelly told Kelly. "You left in your wake a trail of broken lives."
He used his success & notoriety to promise young girls a path to stardom, make it seem like he was going to mentor them, that he believed in them, and then took advantage.
Growing up I'd heard the jokes about him & we all thought stuff like the Chapelle Show "Piss On You" video was hilarious, but it was one of those things I feel like we all brushed off or didn't accept as reality? Reflecting now I genuinely don't know why. Like I remember hearing he was a creep.. but we still went crazy when Remix To Ignition would come on at the bar. It wasn't until I watched Surviving R. Kelly on Netflix that I understood the full, horrific scope of what he did and how it impacted his victims and ruined lives. It's hard to hear his songs without feeling sick to your stomach once you know the details & hear from those he preyed upon. One of the saddest parts was that Aaliyah never got the chance to be free of him.
The alleged victims included the singer Aaliyah, who prosecutors said Kelly fraudulently married when she was 15 to conceal earlier abuse. Aaliyah died in 2001.
This ruling comes on the heels of other big news this week; the Ghislaine Maxwell case. It has to be a good feeling for the victims to see justice finally served, but it's crazy & sad that it took a whole movement & decades to get here after they did these things in plain sight under the cover of nothing but fame & fortune. Good riddance to both & hope we're all quicker moving forward to protect people from creeps like them.