Will the latest on R. Kelly be enough for fans to drop him?
After the most recent allegations against crooner R. Kelly surfaced — that he is running a sex cult out of his home — has the time finally come to stop supporting "The Pied Piper of R&B?"
Atlanta resident Wanda Hyatt says yes.
Hyatt purchased an $85 ticket to the upcoming R. Kelly concert at the Wolf Creek Amphitheater. Now she wants her money back.
“I bought the ticket just to hang out with my friends because they wanted to go,” Hyatt said. “He is very talented and I have seen him in concert before. I don’t believe trying people in the newspapers and on social media. However, I think I can spend this money on other artists, who are just as talented, but not in the news.”
Kelly has racked up more than 20 years of hits, creating something of a soundtrack for the black experience. But in those same 20 years, he has amassed a host of charges of sexual misconduct — usually involving underage girls.
That has left fans like Hyatt, particularly in the African-American community, struggling with ways to reconcile and confront the two sides of the singer.
The AJC's Ernie Suggs believes he has figured out a way to resolve that struggle.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
