The R. Kelly Verdict: A Nation Reacts
From time to time, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Recent events, however, have caused us to canvass the Internet for initial reactions to the acquittal of R. Kelly, which came down earlier today:
• “The great tragedy of the R. Kelly case would be if the jury’s not-guilty verdict accelerated that erosion. Rather, the verdict should be read for what it is and nothing more: A jury listened to all the evidence and concluded the prosecution had not proved its case. And it was a challenging case, at that. The alleged victim testified before a grand jury that it wasn’t her on tape. Prosecutors couldn’t tell the jurors where that sad and ugly sex tape came from, and then they botched having it copied. No matter who you believe was on the tape, or whether you believe Kelly is a hero or a villain, one fact remains — an adult man taped himself having sex with a young girl and urinating on her. Whatever innocence that girl had left was stolen that day. And that’s a crime.” [Chicago Sun-Times] • “Since 2002, Kelly has released seven albums, including a joint record with Jay-Z. He is due to release another album sometime this year. While it remains to be seen how many copies it will sell, it is clear that, as always, this latest scandal won’t affect Kelly’s popularity.” [Nkesa Mumbi Moody, AP] • “Hopefully we’ll get a few more chapters of Trapped In The Closet! Sike.” [illRoots] • “The piquant reaction USA Today found from the “entertainment director” of Essence magazine Kelly’s prosecution is just another example of how the focus of the scandal on Kelly, rather than on the large number of young girls he’s been accused of molesting, has worked to the singer’s benefit. Here’s Kelefa Sanneh, in the NYT, writing about Kelly two years ago: ‘Mr. Kelly, the legendarily freaky R&B star, long ago established himself as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of his generation. The sex scandal that threatened to derail his career in 2002 ended up doing the opposite: it made him more productive, more successful and, somehow–maybe because more people began paying attention to his excellent music–more respected than ever before.’ ” [Hitsville] • “Most of all, [Kelly] wants to thank God for giving him the strength to get through this. He’s going to have more to say about all of this very soon. But for right now, he’d be more inclined to be with his family, collect himself and get strong again.” [R. Kelly spokesman Allan Meyer]
[Photo: AP]
