RCA Records and its parent company Sony Music will drop R. Kelly, Variety reports. The company does not plan on giving a formal announcement in regards to severing their relationship with the artist, but the decision comes after Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly re-opened the discussion around harrowing accusations of sexual abuse against the singer.
Many have called for the company to drop the singer, starting a movement titled #MuteRKelly and publicly protesting outside its offices. According to Variety, RCA will not remove Kelly's presence from the website, but he seemingly will not be making any more music with the label.
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This news comes almost in tandem with former Epic Records intern Tracy Sampson's statements to NBC's Dateline. Sampson alleges that R. Kelly abused her when she was 16-years old, citing a 1999 instance when she claims he kissed her after she had asked him not to. The two ended their relationship when she turned 18, after which she filed a lawsuit, which was settled in 2002 for $250,000.
"I was in love with him," Sampson told NBC, speaking publicly about her accusations for the first time. "I just didn't know what to do. Like, I didn't know if this was normal. I didn't know if this is how adults acted."
Refinery29 has reached out to RCA and Sony for comment.