People outside of R. Kelly’s defense team have ideas as the world comes to terms with his long-awaited guilty decision in a racketeering and sex trafficking case. Chuck D of the Public Enemy rap group is one of them. He decided to send out a series of tweets comparing R.Kelly to Ike Turner, which made him a Twitter trending topic. Chuck discussed a recent Sirius XM radio interview in which he said the presenter switched the topic from TikTok to R. Kelly.
Chuck tweeted that putting a nightclub inside the high school gym is like putting 30-40-year-olds swimming in the same social media waters as 12-year-olds. Things started to get interesting when he brought Rick James and Ike Turner into the conversation. “He was abused as a child… As an adult, I was an addict… Ike Turner was imprisoned for 18 months… Rick James put forth a comparable effort. Ike emerged as a transformed and positive human being. How long should R Kelly be imprisoned, and does the American justice system provide a man a chance to turn his life around?” Chuck sent out a tweet. He went on to advise that people should do their homework on the subject.
Several Twitter users expressed their displeasure with Chuck’s messages. One sent a direct message to Chuck, complaining about Ike’s lack of sorrow, his ex-wife Tina Turner’s inability to forgive him, and R. Kelly’s lack of remorse for his misdeeds. She asked him when people will stop demanding victims give second, third, or fourth chances and start believing and protecting Black women and girls. Chuck replied that the poster had fair concerns, but then added, “Is the penalty…execution castrations or prison where the USA is at a crossroads paying the prison system in the 2020s-you know there’s little rehab, and they’re releasing as opposed to fixing the probl?”
