DIGITAL MUSIC service Spotify, has removed R Kelly’s music from all official playlists and recommendation features on the streaming platform.
The announcement was made on Thursday (May 10) following the growing accusations of sexual misconduct by the R&B singer. As a part of Spotify’s Hate Content and Hateful Conduct Policy, the company states:
“We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, but we want our editorial decisions — what we choose to program — to reflect our values,”
In a statement, Spotify added: “When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”
Just last week, Hollywood’s Time’s Up Movement launched a campaign entitled #MuteRKelly in an effort to silence the singer.
The social movement has since circulated widely across social media and has gained attraction from the likes of Ava DuVarnay and Lupita Nyong'o who called for action against the star.
Warriors. Black women who’ve been fighting for Black women and girls victimized by @RKelly [2] for years. #TimesUp [3] https://t.co/v9c31YYdQS [4]
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 30, 2018 [5]
As it stands, R Kelly is not currently facing any criminal charges for sexual misconduct but the artist has previously faced lawsuits that alleged sexual coercion and abuse of young girls and women.
As the first major company to pull the plug on R Kelly’s music, Spotify has paved the way for other major labels to #MuteRKelly.
However, his management team maintains his innocence calling the recent Time’s Up campaign an “attempted public lynching of a black man.”
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