Chicago man identified as a person of interest in ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ shooting threat
A Chicago man believed to be connected to the recent Surviving R. Kelly shooting threat has been identified as a person of interest, according to the NYPD.
As reported by hiphopdx.com, a man with a 773 area code in the R&B crooner’s hometown has been located, but law officials are withholding his name for now as it hasn’t been determined whether the suspect has any connection to Kelly.
According to multiple reports, twenty minutes into the New York screening of the Lifetime docuseries at the NeueHouse on December 4, attendees had to be evacuated after “several anonymous threats were called in.”
“As a precaution, the network chose to evacuate the building,” Lifetime said in a statement to CNN. “The safety and security of our panel, guests and staff is of paramount importance to Lifetime.”
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The NeueHouse also released a statement, saying the venue “followed appropriate safety protocols in collaboration with the NYPD and elected to postpone the event. We stand by the creative women bringing these heroic stories to light.”
Surviving R. Kelly features interviews with several women who have accused R. Kelly of some form of mental, physical and/or sexual abuse — including Kelly’s ex-wife, Drea Kelly, who attended the screening and later told Variety that she believes the singer was connected to the threat.
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“I can’t speak to what he would or would not do because I don’t know what his mindset is right now. But I would say that I don’t believe in happenstance, I don’t believe that anything is a coincidence. I do believe that in some shape, form or fashion it is connected to him,” she said.
“Now, whether he orchestrated it or not, that I cannot say. But I just do not believe in coincidences. Of all the theaters, of all the nights, of all the premiers, it happened with us,” Kelly added.
The doc also features commentary by Jerhonda Pace, who claims she had a sexual relationship with R. Kelly when she was a teenager and revealed in an interview with BuzzFeed that the women living with him are in an abusive “cult.”
Kelly’s reps have denied the accusers claims on his behalf, saying: “The allegations against Mr. Kelly are false, and are being made by individuals known to be dishonest.”
Surviving R. Kelly is set for a January 2019 release.
