Sony's RCA Music Label Severs Ties With R. Kelly After Uproar

(Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp.’s RCA music label has scrubbed R. Kelly from its lineup after a documentary series renewed the furor surrounding allegations of criminal sexual misconduct.

As of Friday morning, R. Kelly was no longer featured on RCA’s website. Billboard reported that the artist and Sony had agreed to part ways in the wake of the Lifetime series “Surviving R. Kelly,” which included accounts from his alleged victims.

Representatives for Sony didn’t respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg, and R. Kelly couldn’t immediately be reached.

Once a best-selling artist, R. Kelly has been gradually isolated by the entertainment industry. Streaming services stopped promoting him last year, and artists such as Celine Dion and Lady Gaga have been removing songs where they collaborated with the singer.

Allegations have swirled around R. Kelly for much of his decadeslong career, though they seemed to have little effect on his commercial success until recent years. Multiple women have sued him for coercing them into having sex when they were under age. Parents of several other women have accused Kelly of holding their daughters against their will.

R. Kelly also attempted to marry the late R&B singer Aaliyah when she was 15 years old and he was 27.

The artist, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, won three Grammy Awards in 1998 for his song “I Believe I Can Fly” and has released a half-dozen albums that topped the U.S. album charts.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Turner in Los Angeles at nturner7@bloomberg.net;Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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