The six-part Surviving R. Kelly docu-series aired last night and it’s undoubtedly the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter, followed by Aaliyah.
The film’s executive producer, Dream Hampton, revealed that many celebrities declined to be interviewed including, Dave Chappelle, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, and Mary J. Blige, among others. Hampton revealed a conversation that she had with The Roots’ drummer, Questlove.
“I remember Ahmir [“Questlove” Thompson] was like, ‘I would do anything for you but I can’t do this.’ It’s not because they support him, it’s because it’s so messy and muddy,” she said. “It’s that turning away that has allowed this to go on.”
After getting bombarded with mentions, Questlove responded in a since-deleted tweet, “I always thought Kels was trash. My reason for declining the RKelly docu that I support 10000000 percent is I didn’t wanna be in the ‘good times’ portion of the doc, like stanning for his ‘genius,'” he said on Twitter in a since-deleted tweet. “I was asked to talk about his genius. I do not nor have I EVER stanned for him”
He added, “Just wanna make that abundantly clear in a non ‘he doth protest too much’ way. That [hampton] quote makes it look like I’m protecting him. I’m thinking ‘damn I don’t wanna be the one guy I always am in documentaries fawning over someone I detest.’ So make ZERO mistake on my positioning.”
However, Hampton responded and claims she never asked him to speak on R. Kelly’s genius.
