Erykah Badu has responded to the backlash she faced on Twitter after appearing to defend R. Kelly during a recent Chicago concert. On Sunday (January 20), the tenured neo-soul artist jumped on the social media platform to explain her side of the story.
She made sure to note she absolutely doesn’t stand behind anyone’s “poor choices.”
“I love you. Unconditionally,” she wrote. “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.”
Several concertgoers accused Ms. Badu of siding with Kelly after she told the crowd, “What if one of the people who was assaulted by R. Kelly becomes an offender? We gonna crucify them too?”
But in a video clip captured of the moment in question, what she actually said was, “I’m puttin’ up a prayer right now for R. Kelly. I hope he sees the light of day if he done all those things we seen on t.v. and heard those ladies talk about. I hope he sees the light of day and comes forward.
What’d y’all say? Fuck him? That’s not love. That’s not unconditional love. But what if one of the people who was assaulted by R. Kelly … We gonna crucify them too?”
Despite her explanation, Badu is still being subjected to the wrath of Twitter. Many people are now suggesting she’s “victim blaming” and that it’s a lot more than “poor choices.”
Check out a few of the reactions below.
[This article has been updated. The original version was published on January 20, 2018 at 11:11 a.m. PST and can be found below.]
No amount of sage could stop Erykah Badu’s audience from getting riled up during a recent show at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. On Saturday night (January 19), the neo-soul goddess was accused of blatantly defending R. Kelly and making excuses for his predatory behavior.
According to one concertgoer, Badu said, “What if one of the people who was assaulted by R Kelly becomes an offender? We gonna crucify them too?”
Another attendee claimed Badu told the crowd to keep their opinion to themselves, while another was “so disappointed” Badu stood up for the disgraced R&B star.
Last week, Badu left a cryptic caption on one of her Instagram posts.
“‘Having Eyes that can see all points of view is a blessing … and a curse in the court of public opinion. ‘ – a mother I C on both sides like Chanel,” she wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear what she was referring to until she responded to someone condemning her for approaching the Kelly situation with compassion.
“I loved you until I realised you supported a rapist and pedophile as your brother,” one follower replied, to which Badu said, “Correction, love has little to do with supporting others’ bad choices. Love is wisdom.”
While everyone is entitled to their opinion, Badu has been under fire before for her inflammatory comments. In an interview with Vulture last January, she stirred up controversy after she appeared to express sympathy for Adolf Hitler, XXXTENTACION and Bill Cosby. She eventually recognized her comments, while taken out of context, were deplorable.
“People are in real pain,” she wrote. “So I understand why my ‘good’ intent was misconstrued as ‘bad’. In trying to express a point, I used 1 of the worst examples possible, Not to support the cruel actions of an unwell, psychopathic Adolf Hitler, but to only exaggerate a show of compassion.”
She later added, “Either U read the entire VULTURE interview & U understood the message of compassion CLEARLY. OR U only read the selective, out of context Headlines, & were drawn in2 the whirlpool of collective emotional grief. I don’t want 2 force U 2understand the way I love. I’m hopeful tho.”
Needless to say, there are plenty of folks on Twitter declaring Ms. Badu has officially been canceled.
Check out some of the reactions below.
Fake outrage is the new thing
Fake lives is the thing, internet losers whining about something they needed someone else to think of so they could adopt it
Erykah Baboon is retarded
erYkAh BaDoo CancELled!1!! 🙁 🙁
Funny how it takes some unsubstantiated film to cause outrage when people knew who R.Kelly was and has been for decades is so fake and pathetic. Also it’s only because he’s black. We don’t see Harvey Weinstein getting his fins pulled off the shelves and streaming of his production halted. Let a Black man cough without covering his mouth and it’s murder. Sad
Harvey Weinstein DID get his… On October 2017, following sexual abuse allegations against Weinstein, he was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. – On February 26, 2018, The Weinstein Company announced in a statement that it would declare bankruptcy following the collapse of a buyout deal with an investor group led by Maria Contreras-Sweet, the former head of the Small Business Administration under President Barack Obama.[2][6] However, in a surprising turn, the TWC board and the investor group confirmed on March 1, 2018, that they had reached a deal in which TWC would sell all of its assets for US$500 million.[7][8] On March 6, 2018, the acquisition deal collapsed again after the studio had an extra debt of US$50 million revealed.[9] The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 19, 2018.[10] On May 1, 2018, Lantern Capital emerged as the winner of the studio’s bankruptcy auction.[11] On July 16, 2018, it was announced that The Weinstein Company has shut down and its assets were sold to the newly created Lantern Entertainment.
Read WIKI sometime – this isnt about race – Weinstein started the entire movement that circled back and GOT R KELLY
Somebody definitely need to pull the fins off his body
Thank you. Fake outrage when all these people were well aware of what went on. The bandwagon effect. Weinstein was the same way. Everybody in Hollywood knew what was going on and that he was getting his dick sucked for movie roles (I mean look at him, dude had to do something how fucked up he looks), but then when the story came out, they were jumping on the pile like a football game like it was something new.
Erykah badu is a mentally ill drug addict.
Another performer in Chicago last night made some homophobic comments on stage and a good amount of people stormed out.
I think that Erykah could keep her opinions to herself sometimes, but I feel her completely. These days there is only one way to react – if you try to do it differently, you are in trouble. And factor in twitter and their fake outage….
She hardly defended him. She said she’s praying for him and said he needs to ask for forgiveness if all of this stuff is true to get some help, which is more constructive than all of these people trying to erase him after standing by for 20 years. People on some dumb shit.
cause thats what a pedophile needs just a lil bit of prayers and asking for forgiveness right? then is all solved
haha no people are missing what she’s actually saying which is that almost nobody is violent without trauma and that almost everybody that inflicts sexual violence has dealt with sexual violence and that you can be empathetic towards everybody hence her saying if one of the people r kelly abused abused someone else would you just condemn them and not act like they were a person in a sick cycle of abuse it’s not condoning anyones actions he should go to jail and absolutely is a fucked person but it’s saying you can empathize and understand everybody
The U.S. flag with slavery and murder? Hahaha. You ignorant moron. The U.S. flag was amended after the civil war. Maybe learn some history. Not one U.S. ship brought a slave out here. It was the British dummy. We fought a war to kick them out of the country. The third verse of the Star Spangled banner talks about killing the British AND their slaves. Slavery was common place back then, worldwide. That was 200 years ago. As far as the Murder goes, are you referring to the police shooting black people? That happens a lot less than black people shoot other black people or others in general. Stop being a sheep/follower. Maybe read something and learn a bit of history. Over 90% of the slaves that were captured and sold into slavery WORLDWIDE were captured by OTHER AFRICANS. The Brit’s never captured slaves. The Portuguese did. Dummy.
We don’t believe you, you need more ppl. FOH. Even if it was true, nobody cares about someone from another race trying to tell black ppl “the truth”
Hahaha. We don’t believe you? Hahahaha. They’re facts. It’s called history moron. You need more people? How many people make two plus two four, fucknuts. Let me guess, you don’t even have a GED. Hahahaha. Yeah, black people don’t need to know any facts about their past or truth about what their experience is now. They should just listen to other morons who work at Arby’s thy are convicted felons, CNN and twitter. That’s been working out GREAT so far. Hahaha. Congrats on being part of the problem. This idiot.
Who would be “we?” Your multiple personalities and imaginary friends? Do you think anyone gives a shit about what YOU believe. It’s really easy to fact check history dummy. Nobody cares about someone from another race telling black people what the thrush is? Your stupid ass commented here. You’re nobody? Hahahaha. Your probably trying to write your response on to the CPU screen with a crayon. Double digit IQ at its finest. Low double digits I’m guessing.
Anybody who ever felt like they identified with Erykah Badu is wrong. She crazy lol. That being said, she’s one of the dopest ever. I wish she would go back to doing voodoo on rappers and making them more interesting.
The thought police movement is in full effect. Don’t give it anymore steam. Fuck what these Twitter babies think. If you’re offended, so fucking what? Badu can still say what she feels. Don’t like it, ok then. Its her right to say it though.
i love pedophiles and the devil, i also hate black people and mexicans
Im black and i love you #Buddy
@I can say what I feel…You can say what you want, puto. Ever hear of the First Amendment? You sound like some young dip shit. Go back to school you drop out.
Stop smoking crack your upper lip even looks all deformed you disgusting bitch
“Opinions from total strangers take me out of my ways
I try and see who’s there on the other end of the shade
Most times it’s just somebody that’s underage
That’s probably just alone and afraid
And lashin’ out so that someone else can feel they pain” – Drake
You big hurt, homie? You need a hug?
Lmao nah happily married and 30 man just dont give 2 fucks about the logic of some dumb bitch thats melted her own upper lip from smokin too much crack
If anything is disgusting here it’s your ignorant ass. Sad to say, but I’m afraid that our collective intelligence is at an all time low. Sure hope you don’t have any kids to teach how to be men or women someday…and tell the people responsible for raising you that they failed, miserably, 30 years of age and you still a boy/girl (you choose the appropriate one)
This is withcraft. This ho been vasting spells for years. #FuckBadu
Look how mentally deranged this skunk is in that picture. She’s disgusting.
These fake “conscious woke” pro Blacks up to the usual routine, co-signing Black savagery and praying for the perpetrators. Erykah been a conscious thot for years, so this ain’t surprising. Bet her daughter was one of r kelly’s she wouldn’t be praying for him. Ridiculous
Jeez man.
I stand with Badu…fuck the internet…fucking trolls everywhere lmao
Twitter is a cancer
They too lazy for that. Just quote some fuck who feel important on Twitter and goes with the narrative.
When is fans going to get a best of both worlds R&B and Hip Hop album from Erykah Badu ?
Who gives a fuck with R Kelly did. He got pu$$y. He’s a man. That’s what men are naturally suppose to do. I applaud him.
Black Twitter is just a bunch of bitter bitches who spent the first 25 years of their lives using their power to chase thugs and have a good time. Now their old and no one gives a damn, they’re Lonley, bitter and are out too seek and destroy/out anything in their path.
All lives matter. Just not to each other apparently. Being black and from Chicago I see firsthand that we are the only ones killing ourselves daily, not whites. Also, whites aren’t the ones that enslaved us it was our own people that did that to us. African warlords sold us to the whites and Spanish. These are hard honest facts we all have to learn to live and deal with.
What “8th st” R U from N the Chi??? Stop the flexing!
Yeah. Stop saying shit that makes sense. It makes all of the sheep and followers sound and feel dumb. How dare you think for yourself?
Thank you GODDESSES FOR BEING THE 1ST. STRONG BLACK GODDESS TO SPEAK OUT…..I AN MOST LOVE YOU THOSE THAT DONT RESPECT… YOUR OPINION DONT RESPECT YOU AN ALL THAT YOU GIVE TO US….. ????????????? #FIRST THEM
You sound stupid.
so r. Kelly gets singled out… like kevin spacey, jared fogle, ian Watkins, phil rudd…. the knives are out.
nah it ain’t some kind of revolution. someone out there has beef.