The Gavin and Stacey actress shares it all; the good, the bad and the ugly; in her new ITV documentary which follows her journey to becoming a mother for the very first time.
Sheridan Smith is no stranger to a mental health battle, and talks about it openly in the hour-long episode. It follows Sheridan and her fiancé, Jamie Horn, as they prepare for the birth of their first child, Billy, who arrived in May this year.
Not only does the camera follow her along to her first scans and prenatal classes, but it also joins her in therapy sessions, where she struggles to discover the root of her mental health problems.
In the trailer for the documentary, Sheridan describes the worries she’s feeling ahead of the birth of her son. “No-one knows really what's going on behind it all. The biggest worry is you've had mental health issues in the past, will it rear its ugly head again? Now I'm pregnant it feels like I've got a second chance at life.”
“I just hope I’m a good mum,” she insists emotionally.
We believe this documentary is going to be a must-watch for mums and mums-to-be, or for anyone who has ever struggled with their mental health. Sheridan’s journey is so raw and relatable for so many women near and far, that we’re sure it’s going to be a heartbreaking and empowering watch.
The award-winning actress gave us all hope when she described the first time her little boy smiled at her, saying, “[It] was more amazing and emotional even than the day he was born, because you suddenly think, ‘Oh my god – you love me back!’”.
“Suddenly all those sleepless nights and all that worry goes out the window. You look in those little eyes and the love you feel – it's like a connection I've never felt,” Smith lovingly described.
Make sure to tune into Sheridan Smith: Becoming Mum on ITV, Tuesday September 1 at 9pm.
Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson has emotionally opened up about her body positivity journey to her Instagram followers, describing how she saw herself as the 'fat one from Little Mix'.
The musician won The X Factor in 2011 with the girl group, and has recently filmed a new documentary exploring body image and mental health for BBC One and BBC Three.
The 28-year-old explained to her 5.4 million followers on social media that she wanted to 'erase' her former self 'from my mind and everyone else's memory' until only six months ago.
The caption reads; "Six months ago this girl was someone I just wanted to forget. I wanted to erase her from my mind and everyone else’s memory. I didn’t see her as Jesy I saw her as “the fat one from Little Mix”.
"Up until now I hated her not because she’d ever done anything bad but because I was made to hate her by endless amounts of trolling. Since filming my documentary for @bbcone and @bbcthree I’ve learned so much more than I ever expected to," the singer continued.
"Thanks to all the inspirational people I’ve met on this emotional journey, I now love the girl in this photo. I’ve made this documentary for 2011 Jesy and for anyone who might be feeling like she did. I refused to speak about how I was feeling for so long."
The Little Mix star, who is loved up with her reality tv star boyfriend Chris Hughes, encouraged her followers to open up about their body image struggles and get mental health assistance if needed;
"I was embarrassed and scared to. But I was so wrong to feel that way. Please if you are feeling how I did, SPEAK ABOUT IT. Talk to your family, speak to your friends, there’s always help out there," she added.
"If you’d have told that girl one day you won’t feel sad anymore, I’d never have believed you….and here I am. Now when I look in the mirror, I don’t see Jesy the fat one, I see Jesy the happy one."
Ahead of the much-anticipated Spice Girls reunion concert at Croke Park tonight, why not watch the new mini-series centring around five die-hard fans of the 90s girl-band?
'People of the World, Spice up your Life!' is a message the world can't seem to forget, and the supergroup have achieved some incredible feats in their day.
In 1996, when the girl-band exploded into our homes, it's safe to say they made an everlasting impact on the lives of millions of people around the world.
RTÉ Player is now showing five short documentaries, called Spice Up Your Life!, for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
20 years may have gone by, but the intensity and passion of the band's fan-base lives on. The documentary series interviews five massive fans about their love for Baby Spice, Sporty Spice, Crazy Spice, Posh Spice and Baby Spice.
Whether it was in times of friendship, love, loss, ambition, travelling the world or even bulling, The Spice Girls influences the lives of these fans irreversibly and made them who they are today.
Spice Up your Life is the nostalgic trip down memory lane we all need, exploring how the message of one girl-group can leave an enduring effect on the world.
These fve individual short documentaries, revolving around the personal stories of Niamh & Caitriona, Anthony, Alex, Lisa and Clara, will leave you entertained and reminiscing on 1990s girl power.
Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Mel C brought some amazing tunes to our repertoire, and Wannabe lives on as the biggest track of 1996.
We'll miss Posh Spice on stage tonight, but it's still set to be an incredible show.
Through thick and thin, 37-year-old Niamh Kelly and Caitriona O'Brien's mutual adoration of The Spice Girls has formed a close friendship lasting over 25 years.
31-year-old vocal coach Lisa Curran found inspiration in The Spice Girls' message through her son Christopher. Her little boy was born with autism, and the band's message helped him to accept that he was different.
Alex Le Moss, who is a brand new Irish citizen, learned English through his mother's translation of the Spice Girls lyrics. He grew up in Brazil with dreams of travelling across the world to meet the band.
Clara Caslin's dad bought her tickets to see the Spice Girls in concert back in 1997. He has since passed away, but she was first in the queue this year to get tickets for the Croke Park gig.
Each of the five documentaries are special and heart-warming in their own way, take a look now on RTÉ Player to get you in the mood for tonight's exciting gig.
Spice Up Your Life is brought to you by Docland, a new online short-form documentary strand presented by RTÉ Documentaries for the RTÉ Player.
Can you believe it's been two years since April 28, 2017?
The day when mass chaos occurred in the Bahamas after Fyre Fest descended into disarray, with musical acts dropping out, no food and water and fake amenities similar to a refugee camp.
Marketed by the industry's most valuable influencers such as Hailey Baldwin and Kendall Jenner as the Coachella of the tropical islands, the festival organisers committed total fraud and lost thousands of dollars.
The upper class scandal led to aHulu and Netflix documentary, GoFundMe pages set up for all the staff who were duped out of money in their home of the Bahamas, and arrests being made.
Tickets cost thousands of dollars and gained notoriety through the famous 'orange tile' advertising by famous models on Instagram such as Bella Hadid.
Let's just say it DEFINITELY was not what it was advertised, with glamorous rich folks receiving sad pieces of cheese on bread instead of gourmet meals, and had no place to lodge at all in the middle of a deserted island.
The festival organiser, Billy McFarland, 'fully postponed' the event after pretty much everyone had already arrived. Smart.
"After assessing the situation this morning and looking at best options for our guests, we cannot move forward as we hoped we could. At this time, we are working tirelessly to get flights scheduled and get all travelers home safely," they quoted at the time.
Ja Rule, a rapper who befriended Billy McFarland at the time and co-organised the event, assured attendees that Fyre Fest was "not a scam" and that he was heartbroken about the scenario. He faced his share of backlash, deservedly so.
He tweeted; "I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!!!" Mmmmhmmm. McFarland was charged with wire fraud and sentenced to six years in prison, where he currently is still serving his time in Otisville
Where are they now, though? Let's start with good old Billy McFarland.
McFarland is sharing a prison with Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. He was found guilty of defrauding investors of the festival out of a whopping $26 million in November 2018.
He plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud, and faces three years of supervised release when he completes his sentence. The 27-year-old issued an apology to People, saying;
"I am incredibly sorry for my collective actions and will right the wrongs I have delivered to my family, friends, partners, associates and, you, the general public," he said.
"I've always sought – and dreamed – to accomplish incredible things by pushing the envelope to deliver for a common good, but I made many wrong and immature decisions along the way and I caused agony."
"As a result, I've lived every day in prison with pain, and I will continue to do so until I am able to make up for some of this harm through work and actions that society finds respectable."
The Hulu documentary claims that McFarland is teaching a music entrepreneurship class to fellow inmates of the Otisville Federal Correctional Facility in NYC.
While the rapper didn't take part in either documentary, he was heavily featured in both. Fair enough, considering he was Fyre's co-founder and worked very closely with McFarland.
The 42-year-old has remained seemingly in the clear since his partner went behind bars, famously defending himself as clueless on social media,
"I had an amazing vision to create a festival like NO OTHER! I would NEVER SCAM or FRAUD anyone what sense does that make?" he tweeted. Nevertheless, he was subjected to multiple lawsuits due to his ties.
Ja Rule has since begun a new investment in an app called ICONN, a "celebrity entertainment book & concierge service." Hmmm, we feel like we've heard this one before. "It's very different, but it's similar," he admitted.
Bless his wee soul. Poor Andy is now remembered as the key player who attempted to save the doomed festival through using any means necessary.
He quickly became an Internet sensation after the Netflix documentary aired, with McFarland asking him to "take one for the team" and perform oral sex on a customs official so they could get bottled water delivered.
He famously declared that he took a shower, rinsed his mouth with mouthwash and drove across town to do the deed. Thankfully, the situation didn't escalate to sexual coercion, but Andy is still revered nonetheless.
"I just don't want to necessarily be known as the Blow Job Kind of the world," he said. Well, nowadays he's doing amazingly well considering his reputation. One might even call him a breakout star?
King admitted in a recent Netflix video that he was "completely blown away" (LOL) by the public response to the interview. "I am now a noun, a verb, an adjective…it's mind-blogging."
The Billy Whisperer admitted to the L.A. Times he hasn't cut his ties with his imprisoned protégé; "No, I'm not done with him. I know- I'm Uncle Whackjob," he said.
"We come from a preppy background. Half my friends have sons his age. I didn't have somebody to mentor me at that age. He's not a horrible guy. He has hurt a lot of people. Will I probably go visit him someday? Yeah, I will probably. And maybe that's the closure I need."
The 57-year-old is still working as an event producer, and aided the start if a GoFundMe to help pay back all of the local Bahamian staff members.
Last but not least; Maryanne Rolle
Rolle was the caterer at the Exuma Point Resort in the tropical islands of the Bahamas, and lost her ENTIRE life savings to feed the staff of the festival.
I just watched the Netflix Fyre Fest doc. What a mess. The only person who settled her debts that weren’t even her debts was the black woman, Maryann Rolle.
Of course, anyone who watched the documentary had a huge amount of sympathy for her, and began a GoFundMe campaign to help her out.
It raised over $123,000 dollars and exceeded the goal, with many of the festival organisers offering donations.
Maryanne and her husband, Elvis Rolle, have found the attention highly difficult, and revealed in an interview that she has fallen ill due to the stress, "She can't cope with it all," Elvis told The National. "I hope she feels better soon."
I’m really, really mad at what they did to this lady – Maryanne Rolle, the owner of the Great Exuma restaurant who spent $50,000 of her own money to pay her staff. But a gofundme started for her met its goal! So that’s good. #FyreFestival#FyreNetflixpic.twitter.com/a2kDX3OpAJ
As for the amazing GoFundMe campaign, he said, ""It means everything, it means we get something back from everything we put in. It is like God is watching over us."
So there you have it. Most of them are still embroiled in the law, but at least Maryanne got her savings back? We wish her well.
The Irish band are reportedly set to hit out TV screens wit a fly-on-the-way documentary and we are BUZZING.
The group, who have had 14 UK No1 singles, will be followed by cameras on their 33-date European tour, which kicks off in Belfast this May.
We LOVE a bitta behind-the-scenes goss.
Looks like I’m gonna need to buy Netflix again if it be on there. I’ve already got like @SkyOne Westlife sparked a bidding war between Sky and Netflix for a tell-all documentary film about their reunion https://t.co/PrfZ20lHky
Fellow bandmate Shane Filan added, ''We’ll document it in some way because it’s important for us and our kids and for the fans to realise how it all came back together. I think that it is going to be magic.”
The documentary will also feature footage form the end of Westlife the first ime around, in 2012.
Shane said, ''No one’s ever seen that. It’s just us.”
Infamous R&B star R Kelly has left the Chicago jail where he was being held after posting his $100,000 bail, according to a Cook County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.
The singer has been plagued by allegations of sexual assault, rape, child abuse, child pornography and aggravated criminal sexual abuse for decades.
Yesterday, the 52-year-old pleaded not guilty to 10 charges against four women, three of whom were minors at the time of alleged assault. He did not speak to media as he was escorted from jail by his lawyer.
The Ignition singer turned himself in to police on Friday and spent the weekend in a jail cell after denying all allegations against him over the last 30 years.
He has faced claims of sexual abuse for a long time, even appearing on trial in 2008 for child pornography charges but was acquitted.
Cook County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Sophia Ansari confirmed on Monday night that R Kelly had raised the $100,000 bail, which was 10 percent of the $1 million bond set by a judge.
It is suspected that he struggled to raise the $100,000 necessary, and that a female "friend" had to assist him.
His court appearance and plea has arrived only weeks after Surviving R Kelly aired on Lifetime; an explosive documentary series about the allegations of continuous assault from dozens of women, including his former wife.
He is currently being tried for sexual assaults which apparently happened from 1998 onwards. He met one of the four women on her 16th birthday at a restaurant, and another 16-year-old when she asked for his autograph.
Robert Sylvester Kelly was ordered by the court to hand in his passport, and to have zero contact with anyone under the age of 18. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 22.
The well known high-profile women's rights attorney Gloria Allred claimed in a news conference yesterday that she is now representing over six women who allege that the singer abused them.
Two more women have come forward to accuse R&B singer R Kelly of sexual misconduct, dating back to when they were 15 and 16 years old.
The latest allegations are the newest in a string of claims against the singer going back three decades, spanning child pornography to sexual, emotional and physical abuse and holding women captive in a sex cult.
The duo spoke out against the notorious artist at a press conference with infamous women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred yesterday.
Both women allege that the sexual misconduct happened in 1995 after they attended an R Kelly and LL Cool J concert in Baltimore, Maryland.
One of the ladies said she was just 16 years old and living in the city when her and a 15-year-old friend, the other alleged victim, attended the concert.
They went to an after-party at a nightclub, and Kelly pointed to the two girls and asked his staff to put them onstage. They were also offered drugs and alcohol at the party, they claim.
The woman said Kelly asked the two girls to meet him in his hotel suite, and that he entered the room wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, with his penis “out and over the top of his pants”.
Apparently, Kelly asked both girls to dance and he ended up lying on the bed with them, telling them they could be in his next music video.
Next, the singer began touching the young woman's breast and genitals, and asked the pair to engage in a threesome. Her friend said no and went to the bathroom.
The woman said Kelly requested oral sex from her, which she did, and then he had sexual intercourse with her.
She had been under the influence of alcohol and marijuana that had been given to her at the after-party, and alleges she “did not have the capacity to consent”.
In Maryland, the age of consent is 16. The two women never saw R Kelly again.
Despite the huge range of allegations against the singer, his lawyer Steve Greenberg denied all accusations against Kelly, saying he has never knowingly had sexual relations with underage women.
The trailer for the new Michael Jackson documentary, Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me, has been released and it's more than a little uncomfortable to watch.
Scenes of allegations of sexual abuse against children emerge, detailing interviews with two men; Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who claim to have been sexually assaulted by the King of Pop as kids.
Leaving Neverland will air on Channel 4 from March 6, and is an exhausting four hours long series of footage and testimony.
In the trailer, which is 40 seconds long, Wade says of Michael Jackson;
"He said, “Do you and the family want to come to Neverland?” ‘He was one of the kindest people I knew and he also sexually abused me. I was seven-years-old."
Wade Robson was seven-years-old at the time, and James Safechuck was 10. Both detail abuse at the hands of Michael Jackson at his Neverland Ranch.
“It’s undeniably a kind of true-life horror movie,” Variety’s review of the documentary read. “You walk out of it shaken, but on some level liberated by its dark exposé… Devastating.”
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the programme is; “Complicated and heartbreaking. It’s doubtful you’ll feel exactly the same after watching.”
“The sheer variety and volume of horrifying disclosures made here… make Leaving Neverland both riveting and grueling, impossible to turn away from and the definition of a tough sit.”The Los Angeles Timeswrote.
The first trailer was released this morning ahead of its launch on HBO in the US and Channel 4 in the UK on March 6, and the documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
The interviews with the now adult Robson and Safechuck and their mothers as they try to process their trauma are incredibly powerful. Robson’s mother especially struggles to deal with just how complicit she was in the alleged abuse.
“Secrets will eat you up, you feel so alone,” Safechuck says at one point.
“Jackson told me, if they ever found out what they were doing he and I would go to jail for the rest of our lives,” Robson says. “I want to be able to speak the truth as loud as I had to speak the lie for so long.”
The Dan Reed-directed two part docu-series has been plagued with controversy since January, when it debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Jackson estate has slammed the documentary, disavowing the claims;
“This is yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson,” a statement from the estate read.
“This so-called ‘documentary’ is just another rehash of dated and discredited allegations. It’s baffling why any credible filmmaker would involve himself with this project.”
Jackson’s brother Jermaine added: “Just leave us alone, leave him alone, let him rest, please. He deserves to rest.”
The filmmakers of Leaving Neverland have responded to the criticism of their work by stressing how vital it is to listen to survivors of abuse;
In a statement, director Dan Reed said: “If there’s anything we’ve learned during this time in our history, it’s that sexual abuse is complicated, and survivors’ voices need to be listened to. It took great courage for these two men to tell their stories and I have no question about their validity."
"I believe anyone who watches this film will see and feel the emotional toll on the men and their families and will appreciate the strength it takes to confront long-held secrets.”
Speaking to Variety, Dan Reed added that the documentary is not about Jackson;. “This is not a movie about Michael Jackson abusing little boys,” Reed said.
“It’s a movie about two families and how two families came to terms with what their sons revealed to them many years after Jackson died.”
Jackson had always vehemently denied any allegations of abuse. Legal proceedings were brought against him in 2005, but Jackson was acquitted on all counts of child molestation, child intoxication and conspiracy to kidnap a child.
The Fyre Festival has gone down as one of the greatest fails of the modern era; the celebrity endorsed festival was branded as the elite, luxurious partying experience. Think Coachella but on a tropical island.
The intention of the festival was to promote the Fyre music booking app, scheduled to go ahead on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma in April and May of 2017.
Social media influencers and socialites like Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski and Bella Hadid were all promoters of the festival, many of whom failed to mention that they were being paid to promote it.
As everyone figured out pretty damn quick, the event was a complete SHAMBLES.
Problems relating to food, security, and accommodation arose, and they also had no artists to play as they couldn't even travel to the island.
Instead of the luxury they branded and were promised, influencers paid thousands of dollars to be housed in FEMA tents, and eat prepackaged sandwiches. All hell broke loose, as you can imagine. Rich folks like to be treated as such…
The organisers are now the subject of at least eight lawsuits, such as defrauding ticket buyers and millions of dollars of damages. CEO of Fyre Media Inc, Billy McFarland, has been charged with wire fraud and in 2018 was sentenced to six years in prison.
Just watched #FyreFestival on Netflix last night and it was mind blowing. A must-watch. The power of social media and influencer marketing can turn anyone into a consumer of a dream. Also I want #BillyMcFarland to stay in jail after ruining so many lives in the Bahamas! pic.twitter.com/NkH6hILh76
Hulu and Netflix have each released documentaries on the failure, Fyre Fraud and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened. The festival and it's employers had a hugely negative impact on people who live on the island itself.
A GoFundMe was set up for one amazing woman living on the island who helped to cater for the festival, but was never given any form of payment.
I have no compassion for the nimrods who paid hundreds of thousands to attend Fyre Festival, but can we please recognize this amazing woman who just wanted to help, do her job, and improve her country’s economy? #hero#maryannrollepic.twitter.com/D4sE5GshOK
The GoFundMe has now SURPASSED it's $123,000 goal, miraculously. Maryann Rolle, who owns the venue, gave $50,000 of her own money into the event to attempt to cover costs and pay the additional staff who were flown in to meet demands.
In the description, she wrote; "As I make this plea it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest."
Luckily, the account raised $128,000 in just one week, so Maryann can get her life back on track. Oh, the follies of rich people, typically tramping on those less fortunate than them. Fulfilling the stereotype never looked so trashy.
Now, some absolute GENIUS has created a mock Fyre Festival to take the absolute PISS out of influencers who paid thousands of cash for trash, and marketed it without mentioning their affiliation to their followers.
An artist has created an INSTALLATION which allows members of the public to pretend they're at the real life Fyre Festival, and it's hilarious.
Infamous creative The Most Famous Artist (Real name Matty Mo) and his company SelfieCircus have created The Fyre Experience, and we are living for this classy humour.
They've got a Bahamas backdrop, cardboard cut-outs of pretentious influencers, pathetic sandwiches to create a realistic portrayal of the shambolic festival.
Remember Andy King and the NSFW experience he was told to perform in order to get Evian water through customs? We wonder have they somehow inserted him into their joke..
Bravo, this is pure gold. Visitors to Mo's installation are promised an ''ultra luxurious" experience and VIP packages, only to meet disappointment.
The recreation of the 'beach front' hot tub full of Evian bottles and a sandy beach background honestly has us cackling, these lads went ALL OUT.
There's an Orange Square selfie spot and fake piggies for all those who want in on the joke. Our personal favourite addition is Billy McFarland in a prison outfit in the background. Gas.
'Ex-influencers' looking for work wielding cardboard signs are also present, naturally. The influencers who were paid to endorse an absolute sham have deservedly been given a slagging.
They're already annoying as hell, but when you market something as elitist as a private island festival for thousands of dollars which almost ruins the lives of those who actually LIVE on the island, be prepared to face some serious consequences.
Yes Bella Hadid, we're looking at you over our cat-eye sunglasses.
The fake private jet also makes a guest reappearance. This was one of Mo's previous installations, and allows people to take those all important selfies and create a glamorous, false illusion for Instagram.
The things we do for the 'gram, honestly. It's slightly depressing. Mo spoke to Insider about the mock festival, saying;
“This is a satire and experience meant to drive offline to online engagement. We call this participatory art. I created the project to ride a cultural wave created by Netflix and Hulu. I hope to show that participatory art is the future of retail.”
Located in Los Angeles, the pop-up 'experience laboratory' is free to attend and celebrities have schedules appearances. We can't wait to see the pics from this, we stan a good slagging.
Two years ago, the world was simultaneously shocked and mildly entertained by the epic disaster that was Fyre festival.
Billed as the ideal high-end music festival experience on a private island, the entire thing was a huge flop.
The organisers were punished to the highest degree of the law for their recklessly poor management and organisation of the event, and were slapped with fines of $100 million in damages – and the festival disaster returned to the public eye this week as both Netflix and Hulu released competing documentaries about the issue.
In both, venturists Ja Rule and Billy McFarland were featured heavily. McFarland, founder of Fyre Media and brainchild behind the festival, is a convicted felon charged with defrauding investors and ticket holders, who is spending the next six years in a federal prison.
The 2017 summer getaway in the Bahamas was presented as the ultimate glamorous, high-end festival experience, with the promo video featuring celebrity models like Bella Hadid and Chanel Iman frolicking in the sun.
However, when festival attendees arrived to the private island in the Exumas, the festival was far from ready to host a high-quality experience, with limited infrastructure and only the most basic of essentials.
Instead of being met with 5-star camping experiences, gourmet food, and all-star music acts, the attendees arrived to the island to find dilapidated tents, cheese sandwiches and a mass of cancelled acts – mass panic ensued.
'I too was hustled, scammed, bamboozled, hood winked, lead astray!'
When asked why he was not also being investigated by the 'feds,' Ja Rule replied: 'Cause it wasn’t me who scammed ppl Sherlock…'
He said later that he 'NEVER MADE OR GOT PAID ONE DOLLAR FROM FYRE… BUT EVERYONE ELSE DID' and assured Twitter uses that he too is out of pocket following the disaster.
Come on your smarter than that… I feel bad for those ppl… but I did not and would never scam ANYONE… period!!! And I don’t care if anyone sympathizes with me or not those are the FACTS!!! https://t.co/5WErU3zwF7
Warning: this article may be upsetting for anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, assault or harassment.
In case you've missed the drama surrounding R Kelly following the release of a six-hour length Lifetime documentary regarding his sexual predation, the explosive TV episodes have one again brought the dangerous rapper to light.
Horrifying allegations have been made against singer R Kelly for three decades, including an upsetting trial involving 21 counts of child pornography.
The six-part documentary made by Dream Hampton, Surviving R Kelly, retraced reports of the R&B artist's consistent manipulation and abuse of underage girls and sexual misconduct going back 30 years, for which he has never faced any consequences.
Lady Gaga is now being sufficiently ROASTED for declining to appear in the documentary, despite having collaborated with him back in 2013 on the (ironic) track Do What U Want.
Twitter users are calling her out on her debated hypocrisy, as she plays a large role in the #MeToo movement and declared that she has had her own abuser, though won't name him, yet works with known paedophiles.
Her silence in 2019 on the issue has allowed the public to instead retrace a damaging 2013 interview, where the Shallow singer DEFENDS him while in Japan;
"R Kelly and I have sometimes, very untrue things written about us, so in a way this was a bond between us." Whoa, whoa, whoa. This doesn't look good for Gaga, we have to admit.
I'm confused how #LadyGaga can be so vocal in her support of #MeToo yet remain silent about R. Kelly who by the time she collaborated with him was a well known pedophile and sexual predator. #SurvivingRKelly
She is choosing to remain silent for the moment, though more than a dozen victims who claim to have been raped, enslaved and abused while underage by Kelly have spoken out in the documentary.
Gaga was one of many celebrities who declined to participate in the Surviving R Kelly series, as well as Jay-Z (another collaborator), Dave Chapelle and Mary J Blige.
The move has angered many Gaga fans, given her public history of supporting sexual assault victims.
While Lady Gaga is getting ready for the #GoldenGlobes…she is still silent on R. Kelly…
Jay Z, who during that time did a collaboration album with him, also choose to stay silent…
Is this your pop queen? Is this your Hip-hop king? #SurvivingRKelly
The rage online is palpable, as numerous fans have pointed out that this exact silence is how Kelly has been left to his own enabled devices for years.
In reality, he has had a support system around him who helped him with his predation.
Despite his child pornography trial taking place in 2002, hundreds of high profile celebrities have collaborated with him since, and are potentially only appearing regretful now because it is damaging to their brand.
Here some of the people who have collaborated with R Kelly since his 2002 indictment:
-Jay-Z
-The Game
-T. I.
-T-Pain
-Ludacris
-Kid Rock
-Usher
-Keri Hilson
-2 Chainz
-Lil Wayne
-Jeremih
-Nick Cannon
-Snoop Dogg
-Ciara
-Bow Wow
-Chance the Rapper
A conversation has also arisen surrounding the notion of sexual assault victims and race, with many pointing out that if these women had been black, their stories may have ended differently.
Chance the Rapper has apologised for collaborating with the singer, but upset many people by admitting that he didn't care about the women because they were, in fact, black.
"Making a song with R. Kelly was a mistake. I didn't value the accusers' stories because they were black."
His honesty may be important in continuing this important talk, but the words have understandably hurt millions of women of the black community, who face oppression daily in America.
He later apologised for the quotes, saying they were taken out of context and explaining that the focus should be on the fact that those young black victims were never cared for.
Jada Pinkett Smith is among the celebrities who are asking the same imperative question; Do young black women matter?
“It was incredibly difficult to get people who had collaborated with Kelly to come forward." Heartbreakingly, even friends such as Questlove declined to appear, despite believing the accusers' words.
John Legend was the only high-profile person who appeared in the film, writing on Twitter that it was an "easy decision":
To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn't feel risky at all. I believe these women and don't give a fuck about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.
R. Kelly has continuously denied the allegations and was acquitted in 2002 of child pornography charges, yet the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming.
The documentary is massively upsetting to watch, with woman after woman telling stories with paralleling patterns of his behaviour.
Families of young women are still claiming that their daughters are being held captive by R. Kelly as 'sex slaves.'
Chicago reporter Jim DeRogatis made a report in July of 2017 in which he asserts that Kelly keeps his victims captive in Chicago and Atlanta, and two victims (Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary) remain in his captivity.
Human rights organisation BlackWomensBlueprint tweeted,
"The sad truth is survivors still face push-back from naysayers who question their stories or dismiss the crisis of sexual assault- especially against black women and girls. It's a terrible burden to have to endure."
Jerhonda Pace, a survivor of R.Kelly, said, “I felt like a prisoner. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. It was just me. I went into a depression. I was mentally drained, because he would break me down, then build me up, then make me feel like sh*t again, then do it all over again."
"He would really manipulate my mind. The breaking point for me was when Rob slapped me, and he choked me until I blacked out," she concluded.
Let's not forget that when the singer was 27-years-old, he forged then 15-year-old R&B sensation Aaliyah's documents to claim she was 18 in order to marry her.
The Princess of Urban Pop later died in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001 after the unlicensed pilot had cocaine and alcohol in his system.
The documentary's film-maker Dream Hampton claims she hopes "Surviving R. Kelly" serves as a starter tool to "shift culture" and "talk about rape culture and organise against patriarchy, which harms us all."
Non-for-profit advocacy organisation Color of Change tweeted the "strength of black women & girls is determined by how much suffering we can endure. The women in #SurvivingRKelly are our heroes."
Let's hope the conversation will finally spark action and justice for these women.
Netflix is releasing a documentary that takes a look at the life of DJ Avicii.
Eight months after his untimely death at 28 years of age, it is a heartbreaking watch.
The documentary, Avicii: True Stories, was filmed over four years, and there are unsettling statements made throughout including Avicii himself saying, ''There was never an end to the shows, even when I hit a wall. My life is all about stress."
He even states towards the end of the doc that the stressful touring ''will kill me.''
Real name Tim Bergling, the DJ was found dead in April 2018 in Oman.
It was later confirmed as suicide, with his family saying that he ''could not go on any longer."
Avicii's manager, Ash Pournouri also said, "Tim is going to die, with all the interviews, radio tours and playing. He'll drop dead."
The final scenes from the documentary were supposed to be celebratory and show the DJ chilling on a beach in Madagascar.
However, it was filmed and had a limited release after Avicii took a break from touring but before he died.
Now the tragic ending, in the words of the director, is ''chillingly false.''
Originally only intended for a limited release in Europe, Avicii: True Stories will be released on Netflix for streaming in the US. and the UK on December 28.
