Taraji P. Henson swiftly clarifies her comments on R. Kelly controversy after backlash
The 'What Men Want' star found herself the subject of criticism and quickly made her position clear, but there's also other heated conflicts surrounding the R. Kelly documentary
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Taraji P. Henson spent the last 24 hours trying to clean up her social media and dig her way out of a controversy after the “Empire” and “What Men Want” star posted a since deleted Instagram story making comparisons to the #MuteRKelly and #MuteHarveyWeinstein hashtags.
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But the Twitterverse responded that Weinstein is, in fact, facing repercussions for his alleged actions. He was charged last May with rape in the first and third degree by New York prosecutors in cases involving two women. He was indicted after dozens of women came forward, accusing him of sexual harassment and abuse.
Henson was also called out for what appeared to be support for Kelly who was the subject of a damaging Surviving R. Kelly docuseries that included a number of testimonies from women, and some claimed they were underaged, when they engaged in sex acts with the disgraced musician.
Writer Roxane Gay tweeted:
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1087828351719538688
The producer of the R. Kelly docuseries Dream Hampton sharply criticized Henson on Twitter:
No idea why Taraji Henson wouldn't know that there are not one, but two projects abt Harvey Weinstein. But this is an oft-invoked deflection. While I care abt the Hollywood stars Weinstein abused, I care more abt Asante, Kitty, Jerhona, Lisette, Azriel & Joy & others, even more.
— dream hampton (@dreamhampton) January 22, 2019
Plus, you don’t really care about Weinstein, you just want silence around R. Kelly. Taraji, like me, is from the generation whose job it was to deal with R. Kelly 20 years ago. We didn’t and countless girls were harmed because of our inaction. So I made #SurvivingRKellly
— dream hampton (@dreamhampton) January 22, 2019
Finally, Taraji will be glad to know that while people are using a hashtag begun by Black women– @SuiteLadyOro & @LegisEmpress–who’ve been strategic & clear with their demands, enough ppl support R Kelly to make him chart. Which I found heartbreaking https://t.co/vo6T07aH8K
— dream hampton (@dreamhampton) January 22, 2019
But Henson responded to the backlash to clarify her feelings on the accusations against the singer.
LET ME BE CLEAR R. KELLY IS GUILTY AND WRONG AND SHOULD BE MUTED PERIOD!!!!! ???
— Taraji P. Henson (@TherealTaraji) January 22, 2019
Meanwhile Hampton was also in the middle of a Twitter conflict with Erykah Badu. Badu recently left her fans shocked and dismayed at a Chicago concert when she backed Kelly despite the serious sexual abuse allegations made Lifetime docu-series.
She later clarified her statements saying she “does not support [Kelly’s] poor choices.”
Still the two women sparred on Twitter with Badu demanding that Hampton apologize for apparently suggesting that she was contacted and refused to participate in the documentary.
No ma’am. I WAS NOT EVER contacted by anyone to be in documentary.@dreamhampton You know that’s not true. I wasn’t a necessary component. You had all the right people, the ones close to the situation…But for now, produce this “producer’s” request or… APOLOGIZE. It’s simple. https://t.co/cgBcpPePMI
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) January 23, 2019
“No ma’am. I WAS NOT EVER contacted by anyone to be in documentary.@dreamhampton You know that’s not true. I wasn’t a necessary component. You had all the right people, the ones close to the situation…But for now, produce this “producer’s” request or… APOLOGIZE. It’s simple. …” Badu wrote.
To which Hampton replied:
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