Lifetime Network’s “Surviving R Kelly,” a three-night, six-hour series featuring multiple women who say they were sexually and physically abused has caused a nail to hammer reaction for the singer.
Ongoing protest like the hashtag campaign #MuteRKelly has picked up enough steam to have several stations pull Kelly’s music including Stevie Wonder’s KJLH radio station. Aundrae Russell station program director confirmed the station stopped playing R Kelly’s music on January 3. Radio One and iHeartRadio, who own hundreds of stations across the United States have also been asked to ban the self-pro-claimed Pied Pipers music.
Gerald Griggs, an attorney for the family of Joycelyn Savage, one of the women featured in “Surviving R. Kelly,” said the Fulton County District Attorney reached out to him a few days ago, after the show aired.
Griggs said the Fulton County DA is conducting an investigation into Kelly.
Chris Hopper, the public information officer for the Fulton County DA, said he had “no comment” after being asked if there was an open investigation of Kelly in Georgia.
Surviving R Kelly delivered audiences far bigger then the cable channel’s usual viewership. It averaged 2.1 million viewers and a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 in Nielsen’s live plus same-day ratings.
Viewership also grew throughout “Surviving R. Kelly‘s” run. The first hour on Thursday drew 1.8 million viewers. By Saturday’s second hour, the audience had grown to 2.29 million. The show’s 18-49 rating also increased each night.
