美国国家公共电台 NPR R. Kelly Has Been Dropped By RCA Records, 'Billboard' Reports

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

R. Kelly has disappeared from the RCA Records website. Several media outlets² are reporting the label has dropped the R&B singer. Now, this follows the Lifetime TV docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," which catalogued more than 25 years of sexual and physical abuse allegations against Kelly by a number of women. Seven of them were interviewed on camera. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas joins us to talk about the latest developments. Hey, Anastasia.

ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE³: Hi, Mary Louise.

KELLY: So start here - R. Kelly says he is innocent. He has always said he's innocent. And up to now his record label stood by him. So what changed today?

TSIOULCAS: Well, I should say first off, Mary Louise, RCA has not confirmed to NPR that Kelly's been dropped, though now it's been reported by Billboard⁴ and by The New York Times, as well.

KELLY: OK.

TSIOULCAS: However, it's true that Kelly has, as of this afternoon, been scrubbed from the label's website. And this all comes within two weeks of the Lifetime series airing. And on this - earlier this week, protesters dropped off a petition that included more than 200,000 signatures asking RCA and its parent company, Sony Music Entertainment, to drop R. Kelly. And this all was part of a longer-standing⁵ campaign called #MuteRKelly which asked RCA and other companies to sever¹ their ties.

KELLY: Huh. Is there precedent⁶ for this, for a label dropping an artist who is, A, as popular as R. Kelly has been and still is in some circles and, B, who hasn't actually been convicted of any crime?

TSIOULCAS: That's right. And Kelly's labels have stood by him, even in 2008, when he was standing on trial for charges of child pornography in which he was accused of having sex with a girl on video aged⁷ 13 or 14 at the time. And Kelly was indeed acquitted⁸ on those charges. But as far as memory serves, this is the first time I can think of that a musician has been dropped by a major record label because of allegations of immorality⁹ or of criminal behavior. And this really could be a watershed¹⁰ moment in the music industry, which historically has turned a blind eye to sexual misconduct allegations. You know, you can look back to Jerry Lee Lewis or Elvis Presley. So this could be a real turning point.

KELLY: Another possibly related development to ask you about, which is R. Kelly's former manager Henry James Mason. He turned himself in to police this morning in Georgia. What is going on with that?

TSIOULCAS: That's right. There was a warrant issued for Mason's arrest. And Mason - it's unclear if he's a former manager or still current manager. A warrant went out six months ago in Henry County, Ga. According to police, Mason made, quote, "terroristic threats," unquote, against Timothy Savage¹¹. And Timothy Savage is the father of Joycelyn Savage, who's a young woman who is believed to still be living with Kelly. And both Mr. Savage and his wife have publicly accused the singer of abusing their daughter. And they repeated those allegations on the "Surviving R. Kelly" series. And I should say in May 2017, Joycelyn herself gave an interview to the website TMC saying that she was happy and not being brainwashed.

KELLY: Back to the Lifetime series, which put so much of this in motion, it seems. Have other accusers come forward since that aired?

TSIOULCAS: Well the prosecutor¹² in Cook County, Ill., home to Chicago, where Kelly records and has a residence, made a public appeal for alleged¹³ victims to come forward. And people apparently¹⁴ have been calling. And other victims, including the women in "Surviving R. Kelly" have stepped forward to the press and had already done that. They're continuing to do interviews. I should say also that "Dateline" has a show tonight, including - one. And a lawyer for Kelly spoke¹⁵ up and said that Kelly continues to deny the allegations.

KELLY: All right. Thanks so much. That's NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas following the R. Kelly story for us.

1 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

2 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

9 immorality   

n. 不道德, 无道义

参考例句：

• All the churchmen have preached against immorality. 所有牧师都讲道反对不道德的行为。
• Where the European sees immorality and lawlessness, strict law rules in reality. 在欧洲人视为不道德和无规则的地方，事实上都盛行着一种严格的规则。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源

10 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

11 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。