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R. Kelly’s Detractors Fighting an Uphill Battle
Amy Winehouse’s nutritionist. The head of the Iraqi Tourism Bureau. Ben Silverman’s personal publicist. What do these three people have in common? They all have easier jobs than activist Jasmyne Cannick who’s trying to organize a protest outside of R. Kelly’s concert at the Forum in Los Angeles on Friday. “It’s like pulling teeth to get people to talk about this,†she says in today’s L.A. Times. “They’re acting like he doesn’t have 14 counts of child pornography against him.†(The charges Cannick is referring to stem from the unearthed sex tape that allegedly shows Kelly engaging in a lewd act with an underage girl, which his lawyers claim could have been artificially rendered using CGI). But as far as Kelly’s manager Derrell McDavid knows, Cannick’s on her own. “There’s been no protests on this tour,†he says. “It’s just been a warm embrace and sold-out shows.â€
Cannick can’t even get the Faithful Central Bible Church, the venue’s owner, to take notice of her campaign. The church canceled a 2005 show by a heavy-metal band that it deemed “antithetical to our beliefs,†but they haven’t yet raised any objections to Kelly’s undeniable wonderfulness. “Everyone is making money, and everyone seems OK with him,†says Cannick. “People really need to wake up.†And we agree: Anyone who’s just “OK†with Kelly does need to wake up. Haven’t they heard his new album?