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R. Kelly dropped from his record label

ROLLINGOUT.COM — After weeks of public outcry, RCA/Sony executives finally relented and have decided to give up the record label’s prized musical commodity, R. Kelly.

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By Terry Shropshire

After weeks of public outcry, RCA/Sony executives finally relented and have decided to give up the record label’s prized musical commodity, R. Kelly.

Terry Shropshire

[/media-credit] Terry Shropshire

In a move that some pop culture prognosticators saw coming, Sony Music has dumped the embattled superstar singer, Variety magazine has reported. RCA/Sony is the only label that Kelly has known during his highly decorated 30-year music career.

RCA Records is said to have removed R. Kelly from its roster of artists on the website on Friday morning, Jan. 18, 2019. Neither RCA Records nor its parent company, Sony Music, have answered repeated calls for comment.

The label’s shocking move comes after decades of calls for R. Kelly’s censorship, investigation, prosecution and conviction for a multiplicity of sexual crimes he is alleged to have committed against numerous women.

But the inflammatory six-part Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” apparently was able to do what rallies, protests and the #MeToo movement were not: get R. Kelly’s label bosses over at RCA/Sony to listen and, more importantly, move to send the singer into musical exile.

Variety reports that RCA/Sony made the move to address its vulnerability “responsibly” and avoid any “legal ramifications.” In other words, when the blizzard of lawsuits is being fired in R. Kelly’s direction, execs at RCA/Sony don’t want to get hit by any shrapnel.

Entertainment attorney Leslie Frank, a partner of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, told Variety that some major-label contracts have provisions stating that if [an artist is] “convicted of a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, generally speaking, it is the label’s right to terminate the contract.

“Any record company — or, really, any party to any contract — can decide they no longer want to be in the contract,” Frank continued. “The question is what can happen as a result of them asserting their desire to terminate the term of the agreement. R. Kelly could sue for damages. If R. Kelly does not want to terminate the agreement and instigates a dispute saying that it’s a breach of contract by RCA, if RCA is concerned about the cost of litigation and how a court might decide, they could try to come to a settlement with R. Kelly.”

Kelly, of course, has not been convicted for any crime, sexual or otherwise. And he has vehemently maintained his innocence from the many charges of pedophilia, sexual violence and keeping women in a sex cult against their will.

Even though Kelly has been cut from the team, RCA/Sony will still hold onto the backlog of Kelly’s music. They had already announced that they would not be releasing any new music from the “Step in the Name of Love” singer.

And now, after incessant pressure brought about from the multipronged protests and all of the artists who are disassociating themselves from R. Kelly, Sony finally decided to pull the plug on a career that seemed to be on its deathbed and deteriorating rapidly.

In fact, some observers would say Kelly’s career has already begun decomposing.

This article originally appeared in Rolling.com.

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 6 – 12, 2024

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Bay Area

Alameda County Judge Blasts Defendants Over Delay in West Oakland Fire Trial

Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the RadiusRecycling/SchnitzerSteel defendants in court for causing delays in prosecuting this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date.

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Criminal charges announced this week are related to the August 2023 scrap metal fire at Radius Recycling Inc., formerly Schnitzer Steel. Photo courtesy of Oaklandside.
Criminal charges announced this week are related to the August 2023 scrap metal fire at Radius Recycling Inc., formerly Schnitzer Steel. Photo courtesy of Oaklandside.

Special to The Post

District Attorney Pamela Price announced that a hearing was held on October 30 in the criminal prosecution of the Radius Recycling/Schnitzer Steel involving a fire at the West Oakland facility on Aug. 9-10, 2023.

The Alameda County criminal Grand Jury indicted radius Recycling and two of its corporate managers in June 2024.

Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the RadiusRecycling/SchnitzerSteel defendants in court for causing delays in prosecuting this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date.

The court clarified that the defendants will not receive more extensions on their arraignment and plea.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price agreed with the court that defendants should not get preferential treatment. Price and her team appreciated the court for clarifying that future delays by Radius will not be tolerated.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (BAAQMD) public data shows that during and after the fire, the smoke plume traveled across Alameda County with high levels of PM 2.5 (Particulate Matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter) detected around Laney College in Oakland, Livermore, Pleasanton, and West Oakland.

PM2.5 is particularly harmful to infants and children, the elderly, and people with asthma or heart disease.

“This fire posed a great health hazard to the people of Alameda County,” said Price. “High, short-term exposures to a toxic smoke plume have been shown to cause significant danger to human health.

“Additionally, in this case, Oakland firefighters battled the blaze under extremely dangerous conditions for 15 hours with assistance from a San Francisco Fire Department fireboat and a fireboat from the City of Alameda Fire Department,” Price observed.

The team prosecuting the case from the DA’s Consumer Justice Bureau looks forward to resolving any future motions and having the defendants arraigned in court on Dec. 9.

The media relations office of the Alameda County District Attorney’s office is the source of this report.

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