Fans have sympathized greatly with disgraced singer, R. Kelly following YouTube’sban of his official channels.
There have been arguments that Harvey Weinstein’s films are still shown, so Kelly’s channels should remain. As much as fans believe R. Kelly to be guilty of the allegations against him, they have argued that they won’t stop listening to his music, but also can’t find his catalog on his verified YouTube accounts.
In 2019, Sony Music’s RCA Records ended its longstanding relationship with Kelly amid sex trafficking and sex crimes allegations, but fans can still find his music on DSPs.
YouTube’s decision has definitely sent shockwaves down the spines of his fans and there are definately going to be getting more complaints.
You will recall that a spokesperson for YouTube said: We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.
YouTube’s creator responsibility guidelines state that the company might remove a user for on- and/or off-platform behavior that we may consider to be inappropriate.
The guidelines continue by saying that a user can be penalized for participating in abuse or violence, demonstrating cruelty, or participating in fraudulent/deceptive behavior leading to real-world harm.
The two channels in question are R. Kelly TV and R. Kelly Vevo, both of which now display messages letting users know that the accounts have been terminated.
Nicole Alston, YouTube’s head of legal, said, per Bloomberg: Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm. Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms.
Kelly’s official accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have also been disabled.