MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
R. Kelly has disappeared from the RCA Records website. Several media outlets are reporting the label has dropped the R&B singer. Now, this follows the Lifetime TV docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," which catalogued more than 25 years of sexual and physical abuse allegations against Kelly by a number of women. Seven of them were interviewed on camera. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas joins us to talk about the latest developments. Hey, Anastasia.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Hi, Mary Louise.
KELLY: So start here - R. Kelly says he is innocent. He has always said he's innocent. And up to now his record label stood by him. So what changed today?
TSIOULCAS: Well, I should say first off, Mary Louise, RCA has not confirmed to NPR that Kelly's been dropped, though now it's been reported by Billboard and by The New York Times, as well.
KELLY: OK.
TSIOULCAS: However, it's true that Kelly has, as of this afternoon, been scrubbed from the label's website. And this all comes within two weeks of the Lifetime series airing. And on this - earlier this week, protesters dropped off a petition that included more than 200,000 signatures asking RCA and its parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, to drop R. Kelly. And this all was part of a longer-standing campaign called #MuteRKelly which asked RCA and other companies to sever their ties.
KELLY: Huh. Is there precedent for this, for a label dropping an artist who is, A, as popular as R. Kelly has been and still is in some circles and, B, who hasn't actually been convicted of any crime?
TSIOULCAS: That's right. And Kelly's labels have stood by him, even in 2008, when he was standing on trial for charges of child pornography in which he was accused of having sex with a girl on video aged 13 or 14 at the time. And Kelly was indeed acquitted on those charges. But as far as memory serves, this is the first time I can think of that a musician has been dropped by a major record label because of allegations of immorality or of criminal behavior. And this really could be a watershed moment in the music industry, which historically has turned a blind eye to sexual misconduct allegations. You know, you can look back to Jerry Lee Lewis or Elvis Presley. So this could be a real turning point.
KELLY: Another possibly related development to ask you about, which is R. Kelly's former manager Henry James Mason. He turned himself in to police this morning in Georgia. What is going on with that?
TSIOULCAS: That's right. There was a warrant issued for Mason's arrest. And Mason - it's unclear if he's a former manager or still current manager. A warrant went out six months ago in Henry County, Ga. According to police, Mason made, quote, "terroristic threats," unquote, against Timothy Savage. And Timothy Savage is the father of Joycelyn Savage, who's a young woman who is believed to still be living with Kelly. And both Mr. Savage and his wife have publicly accused the singer of abusing their daughter. And they repeated those allegations on the "Surviving R. Kelly" series. And I should say in May 2017, Joycelyn herself gave an interview to the website TMC saying that she was happy and not being brainwashed.
KELLY: Back to the Lifetime series, which put so much of this in motion, it seems. Have other accusers come forward since that aired?
TSIOULCAS: Well the prosecutor in Cook County, Ill., home to Chicago, where Kelly records and has a residence, made a public appeal for alleged victims to come forward. And people apparently have been calling. And other victims, including the women in "Surviving R. Kelly" have stepped forward to the press and had already done that. They're continuing to do interviews. I should say also that "Dateline" has a show tonight, including - one. And a lawyer for Kelly spoke up and said that Kelly continues to deny the allegations.
KELLY: All right. Thanks so much. That's NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas following the R. Kelly story for us.