A private New York screening of the Lifetime documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ was forced to evacuate after ‘several anonymous threats were called in,’ according to the network.
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke was just one of the special guest at Tuesday’s screening at NeueHouse Madison Square that included survivors of alleged R. Kelly abuse along with their loved ones and supporters.
‘As a precaution, we evacuated,’ a Lifetime representative said to the The Hollywood Reporter. ‘Tonight’s all about the safety of everyone — we’re not even thinking of what to do next yet.’
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A private New York screening of the Lifetime documentary ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ was forced to evacuate
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke was just one of the special guest at Tuesday’s screening at NeueHouse Madison Square that included survivors of alleged R. Kelly abuse along with their loved ones and supporters
The representative said that a call came from Chicago but that fact hasn’t been corroborated by the NYPD. The call was said to have been anonymous.
The evacuation took place roughly a half hour into the documentary.
‘We followed appropriate safety protocols in collaboration with the NYPD and elected to postpone the event,’ NeueHouse Madison Square management said in a statement to CNN. ‘We stand by the creative women bringing these heroic stories to light.’
Executive Producer and Showrunner Dream Hampton condemned the attempt as nothing more than a desperate distraction meant to cause harm.
Hampton said: ‘Calling in a noncredible threat to the NYPD to interrupt our screening is an act of desperation from people who don’t want these truths shared with the world.
‘The survivors who bravely sat with me for this docuseries know all to well what R. Kelly is capable of, every one of them has stories of being abused and controlled by him.’
‘So…Y’ALL ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!,’ said #MeToo founder Tarana Burke. ‘Tonight was a private screening of the @lifetimetv documentary #survivingRkelly where his survivors, parents of survivors, and folks featured in the doc were gathered and a BOMB THREAT was called in and the event shut down. #muteRkelly
‘The worst of it isn’t the threat though bc it didn’t appear to be credible but the survivors who had to endure his harassment. #muteRkelly.’
Burke and other notable writers and prominent figures were in attendance at Tuesday’s screening, providing details as to what was happening with the evacuation.
‘So…Y’ALL ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!,’ said #MeToo founder Tarana Burke. ‘Tonight was a private screening of the @lifetimetv documentary #survivingRkelly where his survivors, parents of survivors, and folks featured in the doc were gathered and a BOMB THREAT was called in and the event shut down. #muteRkelly.
‘The worst of it isn’t the threat though bc it didn’t appear to be credible but the survivors who had to endure his harassment. #muteRkelly.’
#OscarsSoWhite creator April Reigns shared insight as to what happened and said: ‘To my knowledge, everyone is physically safe. The screening was abruptly ended & will be rescheduled, perhaps. There were survivors of R Kelly in the room, who I’m sure were emotionally affected more than the rest of us. #SurvivingRKelly #MuteRKelly’
‘I was,’ said Jamilah Lemieux when asked about the event. ‘And then it was shut down because of a threat. Who would do that? Who doesn’t want people to see this movie? Who doesn’t want his accusers to speak? #SurvivingRKelly’
#OscarsSoWhite creator April Reigns shared insight as to what happened and said: ‘To my knowledge, everyone is physically safe. The screening was abruptly ended & will be rescheduled, perhaps. There were survivors of R Kelly in the room, who I’m sure were emotionally affected more than the rest of us. #SurvivingRKelly #MuteRKelly’
‘I was,’ said Jamilah Lemieux when asked about the event. ‘And then it was shut down because of a threat. Who would do that? Who doesn’t want people to see this movie? Who doesn’t want his accusers to speak? #SurvivingRKelly.’
Video showed the survivors being boarded onto buses so that they could evacuate safely.
Other videos show the crowd outside of the venue trying to figure out what exactly is going on and calling out those who called the threats.
The three-part series from Lifetime will explore the alleged physical, emotional and mental abuse that the artist exposed accusers to.
Video showed the survivors being boarded onto buses so that they could evacuate safely
Video showed the survivors being boarded onto buses so that they could evacuate safely
It features appearances by survivors, their parents, close musicians, ‘inner circle’ and even the singer’s own brother.
In July, Kelly released a 19-minute song in which he addresses nearly three decades of sexual violence, coercion and abuse allegations by multiple women.
The artist uploaded the revealing new song entitled I Admit to Soundcloud on Sunday night with the caption: ‘Today is the day you’ve been waiting for.’
Contrary to the song’s title, Kelly maintains that he is not guilty of any of the numerous sex crime accusations levied against him, singing: ‘Now I don’t know what else to say except, I’m so falsely accused.’
Last year several women came forward claiming Kelly had been running a sex cult, and in May of this year a woman filed a lawsuit against him claiming that he had treated her like a sex slave.
‘Surviving R. Kelly’ will premiere on January 3 at 9pm ET/PT on Lifetime.