“I’m Sorry”: Lady Gaga Will Remove R. Kelly Collab From Streaming Platforms Following Backlash
"I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain."
Warning: this article discusses sexual assault and child abuse.
Lady Gaga will remove her R. Kelly collaboration, ‘Do What U Want (With My Body)’, from iTunes and streaming platforms following a wave of condemnation in the wake of the recent Kelly documentary, Surviving R. Kelly.
In a statement released through her social media today, Lady Gaga apologised for not speaking out sooner and affirmed that she was “1000 percent” standing behind the alleged victims.
“What I am hearing about the allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible,” she wrote. “As a victim of sexual assault myself, I made both the song and video at a dark time in my life, my intention was to create something extremely defiant and provocative because I was angry and still hadn’t processed the trauma that had occurred in my own life.”
“I can’t go back,” she continues. “But I can go forward and continue to support women, men, and people of all sexual identities, and of all races, who are victims of sexual assault. I share this not to make excuses for myself, but to explain.”
She then confirmed she would remove the song from all streaming platforms. Read the full statement below.
I stand by anyone who has ever been the victim of sexual assault: pic.twitter.com/67sz4WpV3i
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) January 10, 2019
Lady Gaga has faced intense criticism ever since the song was released back in 2013. She has previously defended the track, stating at a press conference in that year: “R. Kelly and I have sometimes very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us. That we were able to say, the public, they can have our bodies, but they cannot have our mind or our heart. It was a really natural collaboration.”
.@ladygaga, please be ready to answer questions about #SurvivingRKelly at the #GoldenGlobes today. Your silence on this has spoken volumes. https://t.co/7J8Xf4sxAH
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) January 6, 2019
The criticism has been revived over the last week in the wake of the airing of Surviving R. Kelly. Broadcast on Lifetime, the six-hour series features interviews from several of his accusers, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, his brothers, and ex-wife Andrea Kelly, who alleges R. Kelly has committed sexual abuse and acts of pedophilia across several decades. R. Kelly has continually denied all claims, ever since they were first publicly reported in 2000.
In addition to the many allegations, Surviving R. Kelly also details Kelly’s life, including his molestation as a child, his ascent as a singer, and his secret marriage to Aaliyah in 1994, when she was 15 and he was 33. Read more about the documentary here.