YouTube has deleted R&B artist R. Kelly’s channels from its video platform, separating itself from the musician, who was convicted of sex trafficking last month.
In September, a federal jury convicted R. Kelly in his sex-trafficking trial, where prosecutors accused the singer of using his celebrity for a quarter-century to entice women and young girls into his circle for sex.
Two of his channels, RKellyTV and RKellyVevo, have been deleted from one of the world’s biggest video platforms, and the singer will no longer be allowed to establish or own any other YouTube channel, according to a statement issued late Monday in response to a request for comment from Reuters.
His music library will remain available on YouTube Music, YouTube’s audio-streaming service, while videos posted by other YouTube users will remain accessible.
“We can confirm that two channels associated with R. Kelly have been deleted in compliance with our creator responsibility rules,” a YouTube spokesman told Reuters in a statement.
“Waiting on you @youtubemusic, and you too @Spotify @AppleMusic @AmazonMusic, etc,” stated the MuteRKelly campaign, which was established by two Black women in 2017 to attempt to remove the singer’s music off the airwaves.
Kelly’s music has mostly vanished from radio, although it is still accessible on streaming services. For many years, his famous song “I Believe I Can Fly” was a favourite option at graduation ceremonies.
Kelly faces a required minimum of ten years in jail and a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on May 4, 2022.
The singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was one of the most famous individuals prosecuted on sex charges during the #MeToo movement, which heightened allegations that had plagued him since the early 2000s.
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