Pop superstar Lady Gaga recently declared her support for the women accusing R. Kelly of sexual abusive, many of whom had spoken out on the ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ docuseries. In her lengthy apology, the singer/actress branded the accusations “absolutely horrifying and indefensible.”
To coincide with her stance, Gaga removed her 2013 R. Kelly collaboration “Do What U Want” from popular download and streaming services and apologized for working with him. However, fans can still stream or buy a 2014 remix of the song featuring different lyrics and Christina Aguilera instead of R. Kelly on Apple Music, iTunes, and Spotify.
The all-female version has since become popular online, even returning to the iTunes top 100 chart, and the news has prompted Aguilera to applaud Gaga for “doing the right thing.”
Following a tweet about the chart news, Christina wrote, “This is a reminder of women sticking together- and not letting a man take ownership of a great song/moment… And if anything the message of this song remains that although you may have had my body, you will never have my heart, my voice my life or my mind (sic).”
“Being a survivor of past predators myself, these lines spoke to me, which is why I did the song. I embrace all survivors of sexual and domestic violence and abuse,” she added. “holding a special place in my heart, and you @ladygaga, for doing the right thing!”
Aguilera’s tweets of support emerge shortly after Kelly’s lawyer slammed Gaga for only now denouncing the collaboration with his client, claiming she is doing so simply because she fears remaining silent will hurt her chances at landing an Oscar for her movie musical, ‘A Star Is Born.’
“Lady Gaga did a song with him in 2013 and there were no problems (then). There were rumors about Mr. Kelly back then,” Steven Greenberg told Good Morning America.
“What has changed between then and now? I’ll tell you what’s changed between then and now: she says, ‘If I don’t disclaim my association with him, it might hurt my chance to get an Oscar.’ That’s exactly what it is.”
Kelly has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but following the Surviving R. Kelly broadcast, prosecutors in Georgia and Illinois launched criminal investigations into his alleged actions.
His attorney is adamant the criminal probes will eventually fall apart.
“We know what happened and we know those things (instances of sexual misconduct) didn’t happen,” he declared. “The man was not operating a harem or a sex cult or holding people hostage or anything like that.”
Instead, Greenberg wants his client to go after TV bosses behind the series.
“Hopefully he’ll sue Lifetime… for defamation, because people shouldn’t be able to do this to someone,” he added.