French Montana had to do some backtracking after he defended R. Kelly and caught a social media beat down.
The Bronx rapper ran into TMZ on the night of Saturday, Jan. 12, in Los Angeles and said people should leave Kelly alone. French’s comments came as the backlash continues to grow around the singer since the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” aired.
“Can I keep it real with you? He already told you my mind was telling me no, but my body was telling me yes,” said French, referencing Kelly’s 1994 cut “Bump n’ Grind.” I just think they don’t let nobody have their legendary moments.”
“They did Michael Jackson like that,” he continued. “They did R. Kelly like that. All the greats went down like that. Let somebody enjoy their legacy. Whatever happened happened. He fought in a court of law and won.”
But it hardly took French anytime to backtrack, after people continued to slam him on the Internet and other places. In a tweet, the 34-year-old said he now supports the victims and not Kelly, which is a definite 180-degree turnaround from his original position.
“Let me be clear,” wrote the rapper on Twitter. “My heart is with the victims. I never thought the people I looked up to as a kid, who sang and danced and gave me hope to become a superstar would become drug addicts, child molesters and rapists. I am hoping we as a culture create better leaders. We need them.”
A lot of Twitter users didn’t buy French’s new message, however.
“That’s not what you said, though,” someone wrote.
“Too late. You said what you said,” wrote another.
Others stated that French was just doing some damage control, and he doesn’t really believe what he tweeted.
“If you backpedal hard enough, you might think you could go back in time,” someone wrote. “But it really doesn’t work like that, and R. Kelly’s case isn’t just a one-off or a single accusation. Your heart might be with the victims but that doesn’t suggest your mind is.”
