YOUTUBE'S LEAD YOUTUBE PULLS R KELLY CHANNEL FROM ITS SITE

YouTube has axed R Kelly's official channels from its site in the wake of his convictions for sexually abusing women.

The disgraced R&B superstar's channels RKellyTV and RKellyVevo have been banned from the site and will not be able to upload further videos, Reuters reported.

Anyone trying to visit either channel is now met with a message saying that the accounts have 'been terminated for a violation of YouTube’s Terms of Service.'

Explaining the decision in a memo, YouTube's head of legal Nicole Alston wrote: 'Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm.

'Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms. Kelly will no longer be able to use, own or create YouTube channels.'

A spokesman confirmed that Kelly's official channels have been axed 'in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.'

Kelly won't be sentenced until May 2022, and is widely-expected to spend the rest of his life in jail - but should he be released, YouTube has slapped him with a lifetime ban on creating a new channel.

YouTube's scrubbing of the singer from its platform is a far more severe punishment than other users who've fallen foul of its rules.

The video site often punishes them by demonetizing their videos, meaning they can no longer earn any money from commercials played before them.

But fans who still want to listen to R Kelly's music can still do so on YouTube's Music streaming service.

It pays $0.0008 for every stream played. During Kelly's trial last month, he was said to $2 million in debt, and it is unclear whether he currently earns any money from his music.

Recordings by Kelly, who was worth $100 million at the peak of his success, are owned by RCA Music, a division of Sony Music, the New York Times reported.

The rights to his songs are controlled by Universal Music, with the approximately 800 million streams they've received since the start of 2019 likely to generate around $2 million in royalty payments to rights holders.

Neither Sony nor Universal have commented on their financial ties to Kelly.

Last month the 54-year-old was found guilty of all nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking by a federal jury during his sex trafficking trial where prosecutors accused the R&B singer of exploiting his stardom over a quarter-century to lure women and underage girls into his orbit for sex.

YouTube said that Kelly violated the creator responsibility guidelines, a set of rules for creators that if violated can warrant being banned from the platform.

The guidelines specifically state YouTube can 'terminate a creator's channels if they're accused of a very egregious crime' or 'should the creator be convicted or plead guilty,' Billboard.com reported.

'We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines,' a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

While Kelly's official channels are banned, other YouTubers will still be able to upload Kelly's work and his catalog will still be available on the platform's audio-streaming service YouTube Music, Billboard reported.

The New York Times reported that following the January 2019 release of the Lifetime documentary series 'Surviving R. Kelly' his music has earned 780 million audio streams in the U.S. and that on the music streaming app Spotify he is still able to draw in 5.2 million listeners a month.

Following a July 2017 BuzzFeed report that claimed Kelly ran an abusive 'cult' activists launched the #MuteRKelly movement, calling for boycotts of his music.

The founders of the movement, two black women, called on other platforms to follow YouTube's lead after news broke of the ban.

'Waiting on you @youtubemusic, and you too @Spotify @AppleMusic @AmazonMusic, etc,' calling out the music streaming services where Kelly's catalogue available for streaming.

A jury of seven men and five women reached a guilty verdict against Kelly in late September after nine hours of deliberation and a six-week long trial featuring lurid testimony.

Prosecutors say Robert Sylvester Kelly, 54, ran a Chicago-based criminal enterprise for nearly three decades and that he used to 'target, groom and exploit girls, boys and women' for unwanted sex and mental torment.

He faces up to 100 years in prison - 20 years for racketeering, 10 for each of the sex trafficking convictions. Sentencing is expected to take place on May 4, 2022. Kelly has remained in custody after being denied bail in his New York City case in October 2019.
#RKelly #RosemaryMinjaj