After R Kelly, Spotify urged to remove Chris Brown, Eminem, RHCP and other artists accused of sexual misconduct
Last week, Spotify took a stand on sexual misconduct and showcased its new content policy by removing the music of R. Kelly and XXXTentacion — two artists with a long history of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse — from its playlists and algorithmic recommendations.
Now, as pointed out by CoS, the women’s advocacy group UltraViolet is urging the global streaming service to follow through and do the same with other artists accused of sexual abuse.
In an open letter, UltraViolet executive director Shaunna Thomas specifically calls out the likes of Chris Brown, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Eminem, Don Henley of The Eagles, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Tekashi 6ix9ine, and Ted Nugent, citing them as artists “who continue to profit from [Spotify's] promotion.”
UltraViolet showed their support for Spotify's shunning of R. Kelly and XXXTentacion in the letter, but urged its CEO Daniel Ek to also do the same with other artists in the same bracket.
"As you know, these two men are not the only abusers on your platform. We implore you to take a deeper look at the artists you promote," the letter read. You can read the full letter here.
“Every time a famous individual continues to be glorified despite allegations of abuse, we wrongly perpetuate silence by showing survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence that there will be no consequences for abuse,” Shaunna Thomas writes in the letter.
“That has a cultural effect far beyond one individual artist.”
The letter also expressed the hope that Spotify would lead the way for several other streaming services to take up the same path.
"We publish this as an open letter because we hope other platforms like iTunes, Google Play Music, and Pandora will continue to follow your lead."
Although Spotify is yet to respond to the open letter from the group, they faced backlash from 50 Cent last week after the decision was taken against Kelly and the rapper took to Twitter to express his views.
Check out Fiddy's tweet below:
This March, Kelly was accused of grooming a 14-year-old girl to be his sex “pet”. Then, in April, Dallas police confirmed they were investigating claims that Kelly gave a woman an STD and plied her with drugs and alcohol when she was 19.
R. Kelly has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.