Few fanbases are as supportive as that of R. Kelly. Despite the alarming amount of people who have come forward with accusations against him, and him currently being behind bars, many people are still in full support of the R&B star. They have shown their support in a number of unique ways. Let’s take a look and how they have shown up for the “Ignition” hitmaker.
Today, many fans of Robert Kelly took to social media to celebrate the recent news that his charges in Chicago got dropped. While this does not mean he’ll be getting out anytime soon, many took this as a sign that things are working in the right direction. “Robert Kelly, INNOCENT. R. KELLY WILL BE EXONERATED,” said one fan. Another Tweeted, “People all over the world still talking about an album containing songs recorded years ago that #RKelly never dropped. And then y’all want to believe that nobody listens to his music anymore. #FREERKELLY.” This was, of course, in reference to the “I Admit It” album that was illegally released late last year and charted before being taken offline.
In addition to supporting the album and his recently dropped charges, Robert’s fans have done a handful of other things to show their support for the incarcerated star. This includes a great deal of them donating money to his commissary account. He racked up over $28k in donations from fans back in September of 2022. The money would have allowed Kelly to live well behind bars, but unfortunately, the State of New York swooped in and took it all. Their reasoning, the money would be used for restitution.
ABC7 reported that “The money is in an interest-bearing account that will be used for restitution, which has not yet been determined, as well as special assessment fees associated to the case, according to court documents.” Many fans were angry to learn R. Kelly would not receive the funds. R. Kelly’s team also spoke out about the court ruling.
Another fan named Christopher Gunn tried to get others to harm a prosecutor. He threatened to “storm” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in support of Robert. He showed photos of the building on his social media and asked for support to get “familiar” with it. “If Kellz goes down, everybody’s going down,” he tweeted. He was eventually taken into custody and charged. He also named several prosecutors by name and posted their images for other fans to see.
The Cut did a piece interviewing fans of R. Kelly, who came out to Brooklyn to support him. They carried signs, wore merch, and played his music. Many of them feel like R. Kelly simply did what a man in power would do and that the families of the young women should be held accountable for presenting their daughters to him. “There’s this sense that what is happening to him is part of a larger history of Black men being criminalized and villanized.”
One fan believes in Robert so much they put up 10% of his $1 million bond to bail the singer out. Valencia Love put up $100,000 only a few months after meeting Robert on a cruise. She never got her money back, and it’s instead been applied toward lawyer fees once he was back behind bars. After the singer was sent back to jail, Love hired an attorney to have her money returned stating she had no idea the singer was facing other charges.
Unfortunately, Love was unsuccessful in convincing the judge to return the money since she did sign the bail bond slip which included verbiage stating she could lose her money if the judge orders the money to be used for lawyer fees, fines, etc.