THE WOMEN OF Color of Times’s Up has declared its alliance with the #MuteRKelly campaign aimed at protesting R. Kelly, boycotting his music and stopping his performances.

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The 51 year-old rapper has faced a number of allegations of abuse against young black women, including claims of imprisonment in an “abusive cult”. Kelly “unequivocally” denied the claims that he was holding women in a cult, with his lawyers saying he “will work diligently and forcibly to pursue his accusers and clear his name”.

Most recently, he was called out by fellow rapper Vince Staples during an interview at Coachella, in which he called him a “child molester”. Kelly was found acquitted of the child pornography charges in 2008, and has settled numerous lawsuits out of court while denying wrongdoing.

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The Women of Color of Time’s Up are a group of activists, executives, filmmakers, actresses, authors, athletes and women in various industries who aim to organize around issues that are especially important to women and girls of color.

We call on people everywhere to join with us to insist on a world in which women of all kinds can pursue their dreams free from sexual assault, abuse and predatory behavior.”

You can read the letter in full here.

Responding to the declaration of solidarity, R. Kelly’s management has called the movement’s actions “unjust” and “off-target.”

R. Kelly supports the pro-women goals of the Time’s Up movement. We understand criticizing a famous artist is a good way to draw attention to those goals—and in this case, it is unjust and off-target.

We fully support the rights of women to be empowered to make their own choices. Time’s Up has neglected to speak with any of the women who welcome R. Kelly’s support, and it has rushed to judgment without the facts. Soon it will become clear Mr. Kelly is the target of a greedy, conscious and malicious conspiracy to demean him, his family and the women with whom he spends his time.”

The statement concludes:

“R. Kelly’s music is a part of American and African-American culture that should never—and will never—be silenced. Since America was born, black men and women have been lynched for having sex or for being accused of it. We will vigorously resist this attempted public lynching of a black man who has made extraordinary contributions to our culture.”

Celebrities such as Shonda Rhimes, John Legend and Ava DuVernay have all publicly declared their support for the campaign.

Kelly was scheduled to perform in the 2018 Love Jam on Friday in Chicago, but has since been canceled. The reason for the cancellation has yet to clarified.

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