Taraji P. Henson’s Tuesday got turned upside down when she made a provocative comparison between the response to R. Kelly as opposed to the fallout Harvey Weinstein experienced when they each became embroiled in their respective sexual abuse, rape and assault scandals.
And now, the actress is clarifying that she is not team R. Kelly and feels he is in the wrong.
The controversy went down after Henson took to her Instagram Story Jan. 22. There, she wondered about the #MuteRKelly movement compared to any movements to silence Weinstein, who in October 2017 was ousted on accusations of sexually abusing dozens of women in Hollywood.
When Henson searched #MuteRKelly on Instagram, 33,300 posts included the hashtag. But when she searched #MuteWeinstein and #MuteHarveyWeinstein, just 30 total posts appeared.
https://youtu.be/VifVSMgIL5Q?t=4
Kelly’s latest set of allegations emerged in a July 2017 BuzzFeed report claiming he had women holed up in his Atlanta and Chicago homes in a supposed sex cult. And last year, the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” exposed the stories of many women who say Kelly took advantage of them.
Since the news of both men’s allegations emerged, Weinstein has been faced with five felony charges. They are two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree and one count each of first-degree rape and third-degree rape.
Kelly, on the other hand, has yet to face any criminal repercussions for his allegations, despite Chicago launching an investigation into two women’s claims and calls by an Atlanta attorney for an investigation to be launched locally.
Many took the message to mean that Henson didn’t have an accurate understanding of the responses to the men’s allegations.
“@TherealTaraji you can’t be serious with that IG story. Harvey Weinstein has pending charges on him, something R Kelly doesn’t have. All R Kelly got was a hashtag.”
“Somebody tell @TherealTaraji that Harvey Weinstein isn’t a musician so there won’t be a mute for him. Also he’s in court over his allegations AND there’s a documentary on it?”
“Someone get to @TherealTaraji & let her know she is LITERALLY regurgitating hateful rhetoric from a POS who targets Black Women. The hashtag #MuteRKelly was used b/c he is a MUSICIAN. Searching for Mute Weinstein as evidence of something is insulting & disgusting.”
By Tuesday afternoon, Henson was forced to make it clear she is not on Kelly’s side and his music should be boycotted.
“LET ME BE CLEAR R. KELLY IS GUILTY AND WRONG AND SHOULD BE MUTED PERIOD!!!!! 💋💋💋,” she tweeted.
(@TherealTaraji/Twitter)
