R. Kelly Comes Under Investigation After 'Surviving R. Kelly' Docuseries

R. Kelly is now under criminal investigation after the airing of docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.”

Cook County State Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx asked survivors and witnesses to come forward with information.

“I’m here today to encourage victims of sexual assault of domestic violence related to these allegations to please get in touch with our office,” she stated. “There nothing that can be done to investigate these allegations without the cooperation of both victims and witnesses.”

The District Attorney’s Office in Fulton County, Georgia has reportedly begun conducting interviews regarding decades of alleged sexual and physical abuse R. Kelly imposed on underage girls.

Lifetime worked with organizations like Color of Change on the docuseries to garner attention of the issue on social media. The investigation came to a head after the six-part docuseries aired on Lifetime in January 2019. The series reportedly drove more conversation on social media than any other primetime program on the night of its premiere.

The series included more than 50 interviews with witnesses who claimed to help R. Kelly in his actions, and survivors who were allegedly targeted by him as teenagers. Celebrities including John Legend and #MeToo Founder Tarana Burke were also featured in the docuseries.

Kelly’s first publicized sexual abuse case was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times in 2000. In 1996, Tiffany Hawkins claimed she began dating R. Kelly in 1991 when she was 15. R. Kelly was 24 years old at the time of the allegation.

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