The aftermath of the #MeToo movement that gained traction around the world following the New York Times' exposé on Harvey Weinstein saw several Hollywood bigwigs accused of sexual assault and subsequently shunned. Yet, this same #MeToo movement, which even saw the Silence Breakers named Time Magazine's Person of the Year, has had little effect on the music industry.

Ever since R&B singer R. Kelly first began making waves in the early '90s, he has been unable to shake allegations that he sleeps around with underage women, is sexually and physically abusive with all his partners, and is a megalomaniac whose obsessive thirst for control sees him run "sex cults" at his various residences across the country. But a highly-publicized trial aside — one that, to everyone's surprise, saw him acquitted of his all his child pornography charges — Kelly has been able to carry on producing music and performing in concerts across the world with little worry. 

While the #MuteRKelly movement which branched off #MeToo has successfully put a dent in his seemingly impenetrable armor, the fact remains that the 51-year-old is still a free man.

Lifetime's 'Surviving R. Kelly' aims to bring attention to the victims' plights once again, with the three-day, six-hour documentary featuring interviews from family members of victims, music industry insiders, activists, former employees, journalists, and even celebrities detailing the extent of his predatory behavior.

It's obvious the documentary has touched a nerve for Kelly. For one, during a recent screening in New York, a bomb scare was called in 20 minutes into the film and organizers were forced to evacuate, with the speculation suggesting that it was someone from the singer's camp who had called in the threat to disrupt the event. Then, there are numerous sources reporting that his lawyer, Brian Nix, is threatening to file a federal lawsuit against the network if it doesn't backpedal and cancel the airing.

Why has it touched a nerve? It could be because of any of these five scandalous revelations:

#5 His treatment of ex-wife Andrea Kelly

While Kelly has been in hundreds of sexual relationships, he has been married just once, at least, according to court records. That marriage was to Andrea Lee, who came to know him while auditioning for a role as a backup dancer for one of his tours and would eventually be the mother to all three of his children. Having tied the knot in 1996 when she was 22, their marriage would last for nine years until she filed a restraining order against the singer in September 2005 on claims that he assaulted her because she asked for divorce. Their separation would drag on until 2009 when the divorce was finally granted, and to hear Andrea tell it, she should have walked out a lot sooner than 2005.

In the documentary, she lays out the extent of the psychological and physical abuse she suffered at his hands, explaining how he would often test the waters with all the women by checking to see how far they would let him go. With her, she said it started with what he called "training," where he first gave her simple commands before it later progressed to the point where she could do nothing without his permission, whether it was eating food, talking to anyone, or even going to the bathroom.

Things reached a breaking point when, while pregnant with their third child, she was suddenly moved across states, almost resulting in a miscarriage. She said she contemplated suicide to escape the torture but decided against it for the sake of her children, instead, hauling all three out of his home and making a run for it before filing for her restraining order and separation papers.

#4 He had a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old niece of his backup singer Sparkle

Kelly's preference for underage girls aside, the documentary revealed that the singer often had no qualms about going after even the loved ones of close friends and acquaintances. Sparkle, one of his backup singers who had been with him on his tours for the longest time, revealed she had introduced her 12-year-old niece to Kelly in the hope he could help launch her career in the entertainment industry. But soon enough, she said she suspected there was something awry with the situation because she would find the teen alone with Kelly even though she was given explicit instructions not to meet with the R&B star alone.

Things came to a head when the now-infamous sex tape began making the rounds around the country in 2002. The tape allegedly showed Kelly engaging in sex with and urinating on an underage girl whose identity remains secret to this day. But Sparkle said in the documentary that she has little doubt the girl in the video is her niece, who she said was 14 at the time Kelly taped the video. That claim would go on to be corroborated by the girl's best friend and her high school basketball coach, both of whom would take the stand to testify against Kelly in the child pornography case brought against him which centered around the same footage. 

However, the denial of both the girl and her family that it was her on the tape would prove to be fatal for the prosection's case, with the jury taking less than a day to pronounce Kelly not guilty on all his charges.

#3 His continued predatory behavior while undergoing trial for child pornography charges

One factor that almost certainly worked in R. Kelly's favor was how his trial for the child pornography charges would take more than six years to get underway, which subsequently saw the public frenzy surrounding him cool down considerably. Kelly, in the meantime, continued to produce and release music, charting number 1 on the Billboard with 2003's 'Chocolate Factory', and touring across the country. The charges also did little to deter him from his predatory behavior, as Jerhonda Pace disclosed in 'Surviving R. Kelly.'

Pace said she was 14-years-old when his trial was unfolding and that she one of the "superfans" who refused to believe in his guilt and would show up at the courthouse every day to voice her support for him. Kelly would reportedly acknowledge her support and, one day, gave her his phone number so they could strike up a conversation in private.

This escalated to Kelly asking her to come to his mansion with her swimwear and asking her to strip for him before then proceeding to perform oral sex and taking her virginity, she explained. She also said he would keep several girls at his house at any given time and that, like them, she was under strict orders to not do anything without Kelly's permission, adding that disobedience meant he would beat you and then starve you for the next few days.

#2 He unsuccessfully tried to throw his brother under the bus by accusing him of making child pornography

When the mania and hysteria around the trial were at its highest, Kelly's lawyers tried to steer attention away from the star by claiming the person in the video was, in fact, his brother Carey. They had sown the seeds of doubt and the ploy seemed to have the desired effect. All of a sudden, there were many questioning the legitimacy of the tape and if they could indeed be 100% sure it was Kelly on the tape. Speculation which refused to die down even after Carey came out on numerous public channels to assert that it wasn't him in the video.

Speaking for 'Surviving R. Kelly,' Carey explained how the fiasco impacted his family life and how there were now students at his children's schools who would bully them by calling their father a pedophile. He also claims Kelly's lawyers asked him to take the stand and state it was not Kelly on the video in exchange for a six-figure sum, something he said he turned down because he knew it was his brother committing the act.

Kelly's other brother, Bruce, had a contrasting view of the events, confidently stating it was not the singer in the tape, and that if he were in Carey's position, he would have taken the money.

#1 He had sex with Aaliyah when she was just 15-years-old

 

Easily the talking point of the documentary, the revelation by Kelly's former backup singer Jovante Cunningham that he had sex with Aaliyah, supposedly his protege at the time, had social media in a frenzy. The speculation that Aaliyah, who was introduced to Kelly by her uncle Barry Hankerson when she was 12, was in a sexual relationship with the R&B star was rife in the '90s and the pair were even questioned about it in numerous interviews.

However, both denied any such fling and asserted their association was a purely professional one: that of a mentor and his student. They also quickly moved to squash rumors that they had married one another in a secret ceremony in 1995; this, despite Aaliyah later filing a lawsuit to have the marriage records expunged.

The controversy was all but a thing of the past until Cunningham revealed she saw Aaliyah having sex with Kelly when they were all together on a tour bus. "So it just so happened we were all laying in our bunks and the curtains are open, everybody’s communicating, laughing… when the (room) door flew open on the bus. Robert was having sex with Aaliyah," she said.  And because Aaliyah was only 15 at the time, she was underage, and the testimony implies Kelly committed statutory rape, a felony offense.

However, the plot further thickened when Diane Houghton, Aaliyah's mother, slammed Cunningham in a statement where she did not mince her words. Houghton called Cunningham a "liar" who she had "never seen before anywhere on planet Earth" and that "these lies and fabrications cannot be tolerated and allowed to be spewed from the forked tongues of saboteurs of Aaliyah's legacy."