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*R. Kelly expressed gratitude toward the fans who showed up for his concert at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina on Friday, as protesters were outside the arena criticizing his alleged treatment of women.
According to reports, a coalition of women’s groups criticized arena officials for declining to meet with them ahead of the singer’s performance, and cited a “long term history of sexual misconduct” by Kelly.
“The Coliseum has neglected to consider the black women and girls that largely make up the community that relies on them for engagement and entertainment,” the letter said.
Kelly, accused of running a “sex cult” among other sexual violence allegations, had barely begun his set on Friday when he stopped the music and addressed the situation outside.
“I’ve been through a lot of s**t” this week,” he said, before thanking the crowd “for y’all to fight for me all these years.”
Kelly then went back to being R. Kelly, with a sexually suggestive set that included rubbing a fan’s cell phone between his legs and persuading another fan to wipe his face and crotch with a towel, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The gig was his first since music streaming service Spotify announced it would no longer stream his music in its playlists. Since then, officials at Pandora have announced that it will also end the promotion of Kelly’s songs on their streaming platform.
“Pandora’s policy is to not actively promote artists with certain demonstrable behavioral, ethical or criminal issues,” they explained in a statement issued to TheBlast.com. “We approach each of these scenarios on a case-by-case basis to ensure we address components true to Pandora’s principles while not overreaching and avoiding censorship.”
Kelly Fans will still be able to acccess his music on Pandora by searching for his discography or creating their own R. Kelly stations, but the tunes will not be actively marketed on their service to users.
Kelly’s representatives have yet to comment on the Pandora news, but after learning of the Spotify playlist removal, they took aim at site officials, insisting they were making the wrong decision.
“Mr. Kelly for 30 years has sung songs about his love and passion for women. He is innocent of the false and hurtful accusations in the ongoing smear campaign against him, waged by enemies seeking a payoff,” the statement from his lawyer read. “He never has been convicted of a crime, nor does he have any pending criminal charges against him.”
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