Ever since Lifetime aired its six-part docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, more and more people have begun to reckon with the moral implications of loving the R&B singer’s work despite Kelly being accused of the sexual abuse and exploitation of underage girls and women. Some have apparently responded to this psychological battle by cranking “Ignition (Remix),†reportedly giving Kelly a bit of a streaming bump. On Monday’s The Daily Show, Roy Wood Jr. drew inspiration from Bird Box to devise a plan that might help prevent an artist’s work from completely coloring our perception of them as a human being … and alleged abuser.
In the Netflix horror film about “a white lady cussing at her kids in a rowboat,†Sandra Bullock and her fellow survivors must wear blindfolds to avoid seeing horrible, violence-inducing demons. Ergo, Wood suggests, maybe blocking out the constant clips of “Ignition (Remix)†accompanying all our R. Kelly news will prevent us from immediately trying to rationalize why someone’s good music outweighs the many, many accusations against him, all of which the singer has continued to deny.