Its original release in early January caused such a stir that police in the US have re-opened active criminal investigations, and soon Australian audiences will be able to see Surviving R. Kelly for themselves, thanks to an announcement from Foxtel this morning.
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The cable TV giant will premiere the six-part documentary series next week via the Crime + Investigation channel, with episodes also available to be streamed via Foxtel’s On Demand service.
The critically acclaimed documentary series focuses on the litany of accusations of sexual abuse and assault, pedophilia, and associated predatory behaviour that have followed R. Kelly for virtually his entire career, even though they’ve had seemingly little-to-no effect on him either personally or professionally.
The six-episode series features interviews with 52 colleagues, family members, former inner circle members, exes, and industry figures, including John Legend, Sparkle, Tarana Burke, ex-wife Andrea Kelly, ex-girlfriend Kitti Jones, brothers Cary and Bruce Kelly, and a swathe of others.
The documentary attracted a massive viewing audience in the US, with between 3.5 million and 4 million people tuning in to see each episode, making it distributing channel Lifetime‘s most-watched show in over two years.
Following the release of the documentary, R. Kelly was dropped from his record label RCA Records, and scores of artists who have previously collaborated with Kelly disowned him, including Lady Gaga, Chance the Rapper, Celine Dion, and Ciara, all of whom removed songs they recorded with him from streaming and retail services.
Police in multiple US states re-opened active investigations into the 52-year-old after the documentary prompted a flood of new allegations from a raft of women.
R. Kelly has since announced vague plans to tour Australia at some point in the year, but will likely run into difficulty obtaining a visa.
Surviving R. Kelly premieres on Foxtel’s Crime + Investigation channel at 9:30pm next Friday, February 22nd.
