R. Kelly: Too Pervy For Hollywood?

jharv | December 12, 2007 10:30 am
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Having already rudely tossed Ne-Yo from the bus a few weeks back, R. Kelly’s tour has hit its second bump: Jasmyne Cannick, part of a vaguely defined group of “black activists,” is going to try and raise a ruckus outside of a Kelly stop at the Forum in Los Angeles, protesting his continued success in the face of “a videotape that purportedly showed him engaging in sex acts with a girl in her early teens [that] opened the door to criminal charges and lawsuits from females who claimed they were also his underage sex partners.” (Just in case you forgot.) It’s kinda hard to believe anyone is too weird/crass/perverted for the citizens of L.A., but as usual, Kells is a most special case.

“It’s like pulling teeth to get people to talk about this,” Cannick said. “It’s a challenge to get the black community to even discuss it. . . . They’re acting like he doesn’t have 14 counts of child pornography against him. . . . We’re all acting like we don’t have daughters and nieces and little sisters.”

The silence that seems deafening to Cannick is a relief to Derrell McDavid, Kelly’s manager. “There’s been no protests on this tour,” he said Tuesday. “It’s just been a warm embrace and sold-out shows.” (The Thursday show at Honda Center in Anaheim, however, has been called off due to sluggish sales, and refunds are being offered.)

On Tuesday, a group of protesters gathered at the Forum to call on the venue’s owner, the Faithful Central Bible Church, to call off the show. In 2005, the church canceled a performance by a heavy-metal band that Chief Operating Officer Marc Little said was “antithetical to our beliefs.” Little and other Forum executives did not return calls Tuesday. Cannick was not optimistic about her cause: “Everyone is making money, and everyone seems OK with him. People really need to wake up.”

Silly Christians, you can’t defeat R. Kelly with prayer and picket signs. (Hell, we’re not even sure you can beat him with a voodoo curse or a stake to the baby makin’ zone.) Also, did you miss the entirety of 2004’s super-overwrought, concept-licious U Saved Me? Far from being “antithetical to your beliefs,” R. Kelly has been saved, repeatedly and melodramtically, by your man JC, although when he gets to heaven there’s a good chance he’s still going to try to entice him into a three-way.

UPDATE: Ms. Cannick writes “Hey there, good post on R. Kelly but you’ve mislabeled me as some over zealous Christian of which I am not. I am not even a fan of organized religion. As a Black lesbian, I’ve been called many things but never labeled as a some Christian protester, lol. I got a good laugh on that one. Christians don’t even like me cause I’m gay!” Noted!

R. Kelly Concert Protest Planned [LA Times]

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