Unacceptable

R. Kelly was acquitted on June 13 of all charges in his six-year legal battle accusing him of engaging in sexual acts with an underage female. Apparently, the jury ultimately made their decision based on the feelings that the prosecution did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Surprisingly, the infamous videotape showing what is widely believed to be R. Kelly with the clearly underage female was not enough to convince the jury. This was furthered by both the accused and said victim denying it was them in the tape despite both parties having family members testify that it was in fact them.

Unacceptable. It would be one thing if R. Kelly had never given any indication that he would engage in such an act. However, that is not the case. On the contrary, it is now known that while introducing the late singer Aaliyah to the world with the aptly titled smash hit “Age Aint Nothing But A Number” in 1994, R. Kelly, who was 27 at the time, simultaneously ushered Aaliyah-all 15 years of her-down the aisle. Upon discovery, Aaliyah’s parents had the marriage annulled. (How about kicking his ass for exploiting your daughter? Unacceptable)

Despite such shortcomings it is without question that R. Kelly is a musical genius. His infectious voice and style have captured the hearts of many propelling him to a chart-topping career. Yet, it is this natural ability juxtaposed with this clearly sick behavioral problem and the ability to get away with it that is most upsetting. I have been extremely disheartened over the last several years as I’ve heard time and time again from people ‘as long as he keeps putting out great music I will overlook his indiscretions; besides, no one’s perfect right?’ Unacceptable.

While I will concede that no one is perfect (although I come pretty damn close) that is the poorest rationale available to mankind to attempt to justify allowing someone to carry on in such a manner. Are we so drunk with celebrity and having a good time that we will openly ignore the sexual abuse and perversion of even one of our young sisters? Imagine if that was your daughter, sister, mother, aunt, cousin, baby-mama, etc. who had been exploited in such a way. Would you ever look at the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B the same? Could you listen to the lyrics of 12 Play, Bump and Grind, or U Remind Me in the same way? If you can, perhaps this discussion is misguided and we need to dig deeper because you my friend are unacceptable.

To be fair I have to acknowledge the multiple factors at play here. The fact that the girl never admits to her being the one in the tape clearly complicates matters. There are numerous reasons why she would not want to come forward though because our twisted view of celebrities would cause her to be characterized as bringing a “good” black man down. The legal system failed society once again because even with a smoking gun, this case was drug out for over 6 years and one can only wonder if the victim had been of another race, oh let’s just say white to throw something out there, if due process would have been more expedient and we would have a different verdict. Finally, this case for me proves that money still is the ultimate ruler. There is no reasonable doubt in my mind that had R. Kelly not been as wealthy as he is, there is just no way he could have beat this case as he did. Unacceptable.