Update: Erykah Badu Tries to Clarify Her Controversial R. Kelly Comments

Music - 4 years ago

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Photo Credit: Vickey Ford of Sneakshot Photography

Photo Credit: Victoria Ford of Sneakshot for Okayplayer

She wrote:

I love you. Unconditionally.
That doesn’t mean I support your poor choices.
I want healing for you and anyone you have hurt as a result of you being hurt. Is that strange to you ?
That’s all I’ve ever said. Anything else has been fabricated or taken out of context. – eb

— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) January 21, 2019

She also retweeted tweets supporting her point of view. Like these:

I was at this concert last night. @fatbellybella stated that she would pray for R.Kelly and his healing and the worlds healing and now everyone is fake outraged. The people writing the blogs and the people upset weren’t there and are completely taking what she said out of context

— Jonelle Glori (@JonelleGlori) January 21, 2019

Auntie @fatbellybella we understand your point of view and you’re not raising monsters. Your belief is simple love, unconditional love. It’s not meant to be perceived as you taking his side. I think that’s the misconception, you’re obviously not condoning his behavior. pic.twitter.com/6XWGIf4Ku4

— Graphics 20/20 (@G20Twenty) January 21, 2019

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Has Badu slipped into problematic fav territory?

Erykah Badu has come under fire by attendees of a recent show at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. According to The Independent, concertgoers stormed Twitter with their discontent after the singer appeared to defend R. Kelly with some insensitive statements during the performance. Various members of the crowd reported hearing the singer undercut the efforts to hold Kelly, his affiliates, and his label, accountable in the wake of dream hampton‘s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries.

One ticketholder quoted the singer during her performance: “What if one of the people who was assaulted by R. Kelly becomes an offender? We gonna crucify them too?” Another audience member claimed that the singer asked the crowd to “keep [their] opinions to [themselves]”.

https://twitter.com/boyDonavin/status/1086837463832776704

Last month, hampton revealed that Badu was one of the many artists that declined to speak in her documentary. And it appears we now know why that might have been the case. In an Instagram post published earlier this week, Badu left the caption “Having eyes that can see all points of view is a blessing… and a curse in the court of public opinion.”

It isn’t the first time the artist caught smoke for attempting to magnify the light of deplorable people. In a Vulture interview from last year, Badu expressed sympathy for Bill Cosby, XXXtentacion, and, worst of all, Hitler. She claimed to see the good in them — even expressed that “Hitler was a wonderful painter” —  and attributed her ability to sympathize with people who’ve committed atrocities against humanity to her astrological sign.

Not sure how she’ll walk this one back.