tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/r-kelly-67499/articlesR. Kelly – The Conversation2021-09-28T13:09:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1688092021-09-28T13:09:34Z2021-09-28T13:09:34ZR. Kelly was aided by a network of complicity – common in workplace abuse – that enabled crimes to go on for decades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423595/original/file-20210928-14-5zme6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=42%2C0%2C4722%2C3124&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A lengthy spell in prison awaits the convicted sexual predator.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/singer-r-kelly-goes-through-security-as-he-arrives-at-the-news-photo/1128860813?adppopup=true">Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images via AFP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>R. Kelly was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/us/r-kelly-sentencing-racketeering-sex-trafficking/index.html">sentenced to 30 years in prison on June 29, 2022 over racketeering and sex trafficking crimes</a>. It comes after a trial last year in which the R&B singer was exposed as the ringleader of a decades-long scheme to recruit girls, boys and women to have sex with.</p>
<p>During the six-week long trial, jurors heard <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2021/09/r-kelly-sex-trafficking-trial-what-to-know.html">harrowing testimony from a succession of survivors of Kelly’s abuse</a>. Witnesses also revealed how members of the 54-year-old’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/nyregion/r-kelly-trial-racketeering-enablers.html">entourage assisted, enabled and helped cover up</a> the singer’s crimes. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://advertising.utexas.edu/faculty/minette-drumwright">professors who have</a> <a href="https://www.dal.ca/faculty/management/rsb/faculty-and-staff/our-faculty/peggy-cunningham.html">researched unethical behavior</a> for many years, we found the patterns revealed in Kelly’s trial to be classic examples of how unethical, even criminal, conduct can persist in organizations for long periods of time, often as an open secret and often supported by others.</p>
<h2>Beyond the ‘bad apple’</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1825114">studies of unethical</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0117">illegal behavior</a> – from fraud to sexual harassment – have looked at sectors including business, journalism, health care, sports and government. We found that despite policies and laws designed to prevent it, such behavior is rife in many organizations.</p>
<p>While there is a tendency to focus on the “bad apple” – the perpetrator and their despicable behavior – in cases of unethical behavior, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0117">our research</a> demonstrates the need to look beyond the individual to understand how and why unethical behavior thrives and persists.</p>
<p>Repeatedly, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0117">we have found that perpetrators</a>, such as Kelly, do not act alone. They tend to have active enablers – groups we call “networks of complicity” who support the abuse in various ways. They also have passive enablers – groups we label “networks of complacency” who turn a blind eye to what is happening.</p>
<p>In all workplaces, people are embedded in networks of social relationships that they value and want to maintain. However, we found that if someone falls prey to the charms of a predator – usually powerful men, such as Kelly – they gradually lose their perspective. Their desire to be “part of the team” comes to dominate other considerations, including norms of ethical behavior. </p>
<p>These enablers often do not intend to do bad things, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01102">bad behavior is contagious</a> and biases can blind them to their own increasingly bad conduct. They are also subject to situational and organizational pressures, like conforming with others or trying to please powerful figures.</p>
<h2>Running interference</h2>
<p>In Kelly’s trial, the prosecution produced 45 witnesses who provided evidence of managers, assistants, bodyguards and other members of Kelly’s entourage who not only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/r-kelly-trial-explained.html">recruited and delivered underage girls and boys for Kelly to have sex with</a>, but also covered for him and fixed problems for the singer when they occurred.</p>
<p>We have heard stories such as Kelly’s time and time again: A charismatic leader <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/r-kelly-new-indictment-in-new-york-charges-singer-entourage-recruited-underage-girls-for-sex">uses their star power and rewards</a>, but also <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/kelly-testify-sex-trafficking-trial-80168526">fear and intimidation</a> to draw individuals from inside and outside their organization into a loyal network of supporters. The supporters <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/nyregion/r-kelly-trial-racketeering-enablers.html">do their leader’s bidding, run interference and deflect criticism</a>.</p>
<p>The perpetrators control and shape information and build myths to enhance their expertise and greatness. Members of the network of complicity <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/nyregion/r-kelly-trial-racketeering-enablers.html">fall victim to such storytelling and myth-building</a>.</p>
<p>Our research – like the evidence in Kelly’s trial – demonstrates that bad behavior <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0117">metastasizes and spreads through the network of complicity</a>. The prosecution provided evidence that <a href="https://www.insider.com/r-kelly-prosecution-closing-argument-enablers-helped-foster-sexual-abuse-2021-9">members of Kelly’s network also behaved illegally and unethically</a>. For example, a former tour manager, Demetrius Smith, testified <a href="https://kesq.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/08/21/former-r-kelly-tour-manager-reluctantly-testifies-about-the-singers-marriage-to-aaliyah/">that he bribed an Illinois state employee</a> to get a fake ID for underage R&B Singer, Aaliyah, so that Kelly could marry her.</p>
<p>Typically, the bad behavior of the perpetrator and the network creates a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1825114">toxic organizational culture</a> in which abuse and unethical acts become the norm and everyone in the organization suffers, not just victims. </p>
<p>Our research also shows that typically many people beyond the network of complicity <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-04-2019-0117">know about the bad behavior but act as bystanders</a> unwilling to report abuse or take action to stop it. They form a network of complacency that, through its passivity, also enables the perpetrator’s bad behavior to continue.</p>
<p>The prosecution in Kelly’s case provided evidence that Kelly was <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/do-no-harm-the-doctor-who-may-have-enabled-r-kelly">enabled by a silent network</a>. </p>
<h2>Lifting the veil on abuse</h2>
<p>The question that many people will have is how could people in Kelly’s networks have allowed themselves to go along with such blatantly unethical – and now we know, criminal – activities for so long?</p>
<p>Our research shows that network members often suffer from “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4189254">moral myopia</a>” – a condition in which ethical issues do not come clearly into focus at the time of the abuse – and “moral muteness” – in which people do not raise or talk about ethical issues even among other network members.</p>
<p>They can also be governed by self-interest bias. It was certainly in the self-interest of those surrounding Kelly to build his brand, contribute to his success, earn his favor and keep their jobs.</p>
<p>This self-interest bias can blur moral vision.</p>
<p>There is also a framing bias, in which events are portrayed and presented in a misleading light. In closing arguments, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/23/nyregion/r-kelly-trial.html">defense lawyer framed Kelly’s behavior</a> as that of “a playboy” and that he was only engaged in “kinky sex,” which is “not a crime.”</p>
<p>If Kelly’s inner circle framed the star’s behavior in this way, it would seem less horrific and abusive to them, and could be rationalized or dismissed.</p>
<p>If persistent unethical behavior is to be stopped, convicting perpetrators alone is not enough. Our research suggests that networks of complicity also need to be addressed and the behavior of enablers exposed and where appropriate punished. Organizational leaders can learn to identify not just perpetrators but also their networks of complicity. Meanwhile, network members themselves need to be shown that it is in their self-interest to expose perpetrators, like Kelly, and <a href="https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/EthicalDecisionMaking.pdf">lift the veil themselves on the great harm abusive behavior causes.</a></p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This article was updated on June 30, 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168809/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The former R&B star faces the possibility of life in prison after being found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking. The trial exposed the role of enablers within his inner circle, too.Peggy Cunningham, Professor of Business, Dalhousie UniversityMinette Drumwright, Associate Professor of Advertising and Public Relations, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1149482019-05-13T10:38:42Z2019-05-13T10:38:42ZThe unique harm of sexual abuse in the black community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273837/original/file-20190510-183089-1rvbvyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Anita Hill in Beverly Hills, California, Dec. 8, 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Anita-Hill-and-Fatima-Goss-Graves-Discussion-on-/2f9783ae9dd0407ea17a01d520b30626/71/0">Willy Sanjuna/Invision/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What makes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/arts/music/r-kelly-charged-indicted.html?module=inline">R. Kelly’s alleged sexual abuse</a> of black girls <a href="https://culturalbetrayalrkellyblackfemales.blogspot.com">different</a> than that of other big-name alleged perpetrators, like Woody Allen?</p>
<p>What are the <a href="http://www.blackcommentator.com/767/767_guest_gomez_black_women_and_metoo.html">different pressures</a> faced by Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford regarding their testimonies of alleged sexual and gender mistreatment by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh?</p>
<p>As the founder of the #MeToo movement, why is Tarana Burke, a black woman, getting death threats from <a href="https://culturalbetrayalrkellyblackfemales.blogspot.com">black men</a>? </p>
<p>The underlying core of these questions is: What really makes trauma traumatic? </p>
<p>Decades of research on trauma, or physical, sexual or psychological violence, have shown the same thing: Victimization hurts people. Sexual assault in particular can be painful to all who experience it. </p>
<p>However, as a trauma expert who has studied the effect of violence for over a decade, I have found that there is a unique harm for black people and other minorities whose perpetrators are of the same minority group. </p>
<p>To understand this harm, I created <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/betrayalbook/betrayal-research-news/cultural-betrayal">cultural betrayal trauma theory</a>. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ9G0AjSJeU">general idea</a> of cultural betrayal trauma theory is that some minorities develop what I call “(intra)cultural trust” – love, loyalty, attachment, connection, responsibility and solidarity with each other to protect themselves from a hostile society. Within-group violence, such as a black perpetrator harming a black victim, is a violation of this (intra)cultural trust. This violation is called a cultural betrayal. </p>
<h2>The harms of cultural betrayal</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273658/original/file-20190509-183086-nt872d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cultural betrayal leads to many different outcomes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cultural betrayal trauma, which is simply within-group violence in minority populations, is associated with many outcomes that go beyond things that are typically studied with trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. It includes some things not often thought about with trauma, such as internalized prejudice – like a black person believing the stereotype that all black people are violent. </p>
<p>(Intra)cultural pressure is another outcome of cultural betrayal trauma. With (intra)cultural pressure, people who experience cultural betrayal trauma are often demanded to protect the perpetrators and the minority group as a whole at all costs, even above their own well-being. With the mandate of “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/us/meredith-watson-duke-justin-fairfax.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3IdqIUy1JyQQuaQdOxevxibsTq0YEQx5_wLoX1I7JovuK8tCjVr_HDIC4">don’t betray your race</a>,” (intra)cultural pressure punishes people who speak out about the cultural betrayal trauma they have endured. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/home/vaw">recent study</a>, I tested cultural betrayal trauma theory in youth due to the increased risk for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0886260510393011">trauma</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X09003401">mental health problems</a> in the transition into adulthood.</p>
<p>I surveyed 179 college women online in 2015. Over 50% of these young women were victims of trauma. Just under half experienced psychological violence, 14% endured physical violence, and almost one in three women were victims of sexual violence. </p>
<p>Of the young women who were victimized, over 80% reported at least one form of (intra)cultural pressure. This included their ethnic group suggesting that what happened to them may affect their minority group’s reputation. An example of this could be a black woman who has been raped by a black man being told that she should not go to the police because it will make all black people look bad. </p>
<p>Additionally, I found that controlling for age, ethnicity and interracial trauma, cultural betrayal trauma and (intra)cultural pressure were associated with symptoms of PTSD. Meaning, cultural betrayal in trauma and (intra)cultural pressure were unique contributing factors of mental health problems in ethnic minority college women. </p>
<h2>What does this all mean?</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273839/original/file-20190510-183077-1xygjuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tarana Burke, founder of #MeToo, in New York City on Oct. 7, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/Search?query=tarana+burke&ss=10&st=kw&entitysearch=&toItem=15&orderBy=Newest&searchMediaType=allmedia">Evan Agostin/Invision/AP</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>As I analyzed the findings, I was struck by several things: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The within-group nature of trauma includes a cultural betrayal in minorities that affects mental health.</p></li>
<li><p>Trauma gives us only part of the picture.</p></li>
<li><p>Group-level responses and cultural norms via intra-cultural pressure impact mental health.</p></li>
<li><p>Policy change that combats inequality, such as changes in education, health care, law enforcement and the judicial system, can benefit minorities who experience trauma. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>These findings have implications for interventions. Such therapy can address the very real threats of discrimination and the necessity for (intra)cultural pressure. At the same time, these interventions can use (intra)cultural trust to promote positive mental health. Additionally, evidence-informed feminist approaches, such as <a href="http://www.beacon.org/The-Healing-Connection-P270.aspx">relational cultural therapy</a>, may benefit people who are exposed to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laura_Noll/publication/283241568_Shifting_the_Focus_Non-Pathologizing_Approaches_to_Healing_from_Betrayal_Trauma_through_an_Emphasis_on_Relational_Care/links/5649f74c08ae295f644f99a9.pdf">both trauma and societal inequality.</a></p>
<p>The <a href="http://jmgomez.org">body of research</a> to date suggests that cultural betrayal may be a unique harm within violence in minority populations, including the black community. As such, the alleged sexual traumas perpetrated by R. Kelly and Clarence Thomas have a cultural betrayal that isn’t found in Woody Allen’s alleged abuse. Moreover, black men’s death threats against Tarana Burke are (intra)cultural pressure that is laced with <a href="https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/28800">misogynoir</a>, or sexism in the black community. </p>
<p><a href="https://dynamic.uoregon.edu/jjf/jtd/discrimination.html">Research</a> that incorporates societal inequality can help us understand what makes trauma traumatic. In doing so, our social reactions and therapeutic interventions can ultimately be effective for blacks and other minorities who are exposed to trauma.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer M Gómez received funding from the Ford Foundation Fellowships Program, administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine. </span></em></p>Sexual abuse has unique effects on people who are members of the same minority group, research suggests. An expert who has studied the issue in detail explains the added issue of cultural betrayal.Jennifer M. Gómez, Assistant Professor, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1162792019-05-09T20:08:43Z2019-05-09T20:08:43ZFriday essay: separating the art from the badly behaved artist – a philosopher’s view<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272925/original/file-20190506-103053-4opofv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">US actor Kevin Spacey is escorted into Nantucket District Court in January for arraignment on a sexual assault charge. His lawyers entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CJ Gunther/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When actor <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-09/kevin-spacey-cut-from-ridley-scott-movie-weeks-before-release/9134872">Kevin Spacey</a> was accused of attempted sexual assault of a teenage boy, his role in the Ridley Scott film, All the Money in the World, was erased and reshot with Christopher Plummer. When the celebrated Torres Strait Island painter Dennis Nona went to jail for raping a 12-year-old girl, Australian art galleries responded by <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2016/12/03/dennis-nona-and-moral-questions-about-criminal-artists/14806836004048">taking his works off their walls</a> and putting them into storage. R Kelly’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/arts/music/r-kelly-rca-sony.html">concerts were cancelled</a> and his RCA contract was not renewed because of his alleged sexual abuse of underage women. </p>
<p>The history of art is full of artists who were cruel, exploitative, prejudiced or predatory. Picasso mistreated women, the Renaissance painter Caravaggio was a murderer. Wagner was an anti-Semite, Alfred Hitchcock tried to ruin Tippi Hedren’s career as an actress <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/31/tippi-hedren-alfred-hitchcock-sexually-assaulted-me">because she refused his sexual advances</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272966/original/file-20190507-103053-yj4p8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pablo Picasso, pictured in 1962: mistreated women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The #MeToo movement has thrown a spotlight on contemporary cases of artists and producers harassing and bullying those in their power. </p>
<p>Those who harass or rape should be exposed and punished. The license to break moral rules that genius is sometimes thought to bestow on artists has to be revoked. But should the character of an artist affect how we judge their works? </p>
<p>Should the works or performances of wrongdoing artists be censored, shunned, or locked away? Should good behaviour be a criterion for exhibiting an artist’s works? “Once we start removing paintings from walls, where do we stop?” asks arts editor and art historian <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/on-artists-paperback-softback">Ashleigh Wilson</a>. </p>
<p>Shunning art because of the behaviour of the artist offends against traditional assumptions about the value of art and the relationship between artists and their works. </p>
<p>We are supposed to value artistic expression and oppose attempts to suppress artistic works even when people are deeply offended by their content. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Piss-Christ">Piss Christ</a>, a photograph by Andres Serrano of a crucifix submerged in a tank of his urine, was exhibited in galleries even though many Christians viewed it as sacrilegious. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272922/original/file-20190506-103060-1hv5hoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=615&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tippi Hendren and Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. The actress claims Hitchcock assaulted her while filming The Birds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">idmb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But if it is wrong to censure art or refuse to display it because of its content, how can it be right to shun it because of the behaviour of the artist? What’s the difference?</p>
<h2>The perils of biography</h2>
<p>The view that we shouldn’t judge art because of the behaviour of the artist is backed up by common ideas about how we should appreciate art. A work of art or a performance is supposed to have value and meaning in its own right. It’s supposed to be judged for what it is and not its relation to extraneous factors. This view allows that the biography of the artist can be used to provide an insight into the work, but the life of the artist is not supposed to affect our judgement of the aesthetic value of his or her works. </p>
<p>Artists themselves warn against taking their works as a reflection of who they are. When asked whether his films helped him work through his life dilemmas, <a href="http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,723927,00.html">Woody Allen denied any relation between his life and his works</a>. “Movies are fiction. The plots of my movies don’t have any relationship to my life.” If works of art belong to a realm separated off from the life of the artist they can’t be polluted by the bad things artists do. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272926/original/file-20190507-103049-o65jbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Woody Allen and Shelley Duvall in Annie Hall (1977).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Rollins-Joffe Productions.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The separation of life and character from art is far from complete. In his new book <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/on-artists-paperback-softback">On Artists</a>, Ashley Wilson finds a scene in Allen’s Annie Hall that suggests the wrong kind of attitude to children’s sexuality. This scene is especially disturbing because of Allen’s daughter Dylan’s accusation that <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alisonvingiano/woody-allens-adoptive-daughter-speaks-out-about-her-sexual-a">he sexually assaulted her as a child</a>, which Allen denies. Wilson also cites dialogue in Hitchcock’s Marnie that seems to reveal his perverse obsession with Hedren. </p>
<p>Some of R Kelly’s lyrics can be interpreted as condoning sexual harassment and it is not difficult to find anti-Semitic or pro-nationalist elements in Wagner’s operas. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=706&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272921/original/file-20190506-103068-1ul7f6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=887&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Composer Richard Wagner photographed in 1861: an anti-Semite.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But does this matter? Works of art now regarded as classics frequently contain assumptions about race or the roles of women that we now reject. Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice makes anti-Semitic assumptions about Jews and Taming of the Shrew has its misogynous moments. But they do not significantly detract from the value we find in these works.</p>
<p>We should be willing to accept that artists are not free from the prejudices of their culture, from blindness to its prejudices or from faults of character. We should make allowances for that when we evaluate their art and not let ourselves be distracted from appreciating its values. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/12/michael-jackson-r-kelly-debate-spotify-youtube">When Spotify took R Kelly off its playlist</a> it faced the objections of fans who value his music. The brilliance of Michael Jackson’s music transcends accusations of paedophilia levelled against him. Many people, including Wilson, believe that Wagner’s works deserve veneration despite their dubious elements. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-ban-michael-jacksons-music-talk-about-the-accusations-113109">Don’t ban Michael Jackson's music – talk about the accusations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>When is a ban justified?</h2>
<p>The distinction between art and the artist breaks down when the intention of the artist is to support a racist or sexist ideology. <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/leni-riefenstahl">Leni Riefenstahl</a> used her talents as a filmmaker to celebrate Hitler’s regime. D.W. Griffith defended the prejudices of white Southerners in <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/birth_of_a_nation/">Birth of a Nation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272920/original/file-20190506-103068-tfdte9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leni Riefenstahl directing in 1938.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">idmb</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also breaks down when the artist is a celebrity and a role model. One museum director defended her refusal to exhibit Nona’s art because showing it would endorse his status as a role model in his Indigenous community. Football players are suspended for acting badly. Why not penalise artists by taking their art out of circulation?</p>
<p>If a work of art vilifies a group or incites violence then there are legal as well as moral reasons for banning or censoring it. If showing an artist’s work impacts on his community and causes serious distress to his victims, then these people should have a say about what should be done with it. </p>
<p>But a ban on a work of art is only justifiable so long as the danger or harm exists. Nona has apologised for his deeds and has tried to rehabilitate himself. There is no good reason why his works should not reappear on gallery walls. </p>
<p>The #MeToo movement provides the most plausible reason for shunning or boycotting the works of artists who rape, assault or bully others. This movement arose from women’s complaints about their treatment by powerful men as actors and producers – men whose position and fame gave them the power, the women allege, to wreck careers and get away with sexual assault and harassment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272933/original/file-20190507-103078-l00jhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">R. Kelly is escorted out of jail on bail by his attorney Steve Greenberg in February. Kelly, who has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tannen Maury/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Punishing these men through the courts is a difficult course of action. The charges are often hard to prove and cultural acceptance of bad behaviour by artists sometimes makes it difficult for judges, juries and witnesses to regard their acts as serious wrongs. </p>
<p>What is needed, most #MeToo advocates agree, is a cultural change. An effective way of changing the culture of artists is to prevent them from exhibiting their works or performing their roles. Kevin Spacey’s removal from All the Money in the World (despite the fact that he has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-08/kevin-spaceys-lawyers-enter-not-guilty-plea/10696430">pleaded not guilty</a> to the charge that he assaulted an 18-year-old busboy in a Nantucket bar) sent the message that sexual assault would no longer be overlooked or tolerated. It was both a punishment and an expression of moral distaste. It vindicated the status of the victims and it warned others to avoid offending.</p>
<h2>A dangerous way to achieve cultural change</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/272964/original/file-20190507-103060-15ue8ru.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this strategy for achieving cultural change has obvious dangers. Wilson is right to worry about where we are going when we start removing pictures from gallery walls or preventing actors from performing. If the character of the artist becomes a criterion for judging art then the door is open to the exclusion of artists because they belong to a despised group or <a href="https://theconversation.com/weve-scrubbed-dennis-nonas-art-from-our-galleries-to-our-cost-39693">because they have said or done something that many people do not like</a>. </p>
<p>Removing or censoring art works can also be an unfair way of achieving a moral goal, especially when wrong doing by artists has been encouraged by the complicity of others. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/magazine/the-revenge-of-tippi-hedren-alfred-hitchcocks-muse.html">In an interview after Hitchcock’s death</a>, Tippi Hedren refused to allow the wrong he did to override her judgement about his talent and contribution as a film director. “I still admire the man for what he was.” </p>
<p>The distinction she insists on making is worth preserving. We should expose the wrongdoing of artists and but we should not be prevented from admiring their works.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janna Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If it is wrong to censure art or refuse to display it because of its content, how can it be right to shun it because of the behaviour of the artist?Janna Thompson, Professor of Philosophy, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1131092019-03-07T00:55:27Z2019-03-07T00:55:27ZDon’t ban Michael Jackson’s music – talk about the accusations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262570/original/file-20190306-100799-z9tflb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Michael Jackson performing with guitarist Slash in 1999.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Volker Dornberge/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of New Zealand’s major commercial radio stations, and its public broadcaster, are <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12209938">no longer playing the music</a> of Michael Jackson. This decision comes after the airing of the new documentary <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/mar/06/leaving-neverland-review-michael-jackson-documentary">Leaving Neverland</a>, in which two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, allege they were molested by the singer as children.</p>
<p>The NZ move, and a <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/aussie-radio-station-pulls-michael-jackson-songs-due-to-leaving-neverland-20190307-p512d6.html">decision by Australia’s Nova Entertainment Group</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/05/michael-jackson-abuse-allegations-canada-radio-stations-ban-music">some Canadian radio stations</a> to stop playing Jackson’s music, come hot on the heels of the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40635526">arrest of singer R. Kelly</a>. This followed the airing of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8385496/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">a documentary series</a> in which numerous women told of their alleged abuse – mainly as underaged girls – at his hands. Kelly who has been charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four victims, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/05/r-kelly-denies-sex-abuse-allegations-interview">denies the allegations</a>, as do Jackson’s family.</p>
<p>Still, it is becoming increasingly apparent that abuse is woven into the very fabric of the music industries. Throughout the history of rock, pop and hip hop, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2018.1483009">we can find many examples of men abusing women</a>, often in plain sight, and often excused as just part of a “sex drugs and rock n roll” lifestyle, or as a quirk of an artistic genius. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-you-remember-a-rock-god-the-complicated-legacy-of-chuck-berry-74835">How do you remember a rock god? The complicated legacy of Chuck Berry</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But is banning the music of artists accused of reprehensible behaviour the best course of action? Any why single out Jackson for this treatment, give the apparent scale of the problem?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262567/original/file-20190306-100805-yukf4h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michael Jackson and Wade Robson in Leaving Neverland (2019)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amos Pictures</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the one hand, taking action to censure an alleged paedophile may be seen as desirable in a society that regards the sexual abuse of children as one of the worst types of crime.</p>
<p>There is a danger, though, that by simply banning exposure to the music of Jackson - and not other artists who have been documented as having <a href="https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/obvious-history-rocknrolls-baby-groupies-lori-lightning-sable-starr">slept with underaged groupies</a>, or artists who have <a href="https://www.baeblemusic.com/musicblog/9-16-2014/domestic-violence-rock-and-roll-edition.html">abused women in a variety of other ways</a>, we have put a tiny band-aid over a gaping wound. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-year-on-we-should-remember-david-bowie-as-both-genius-and-flawed-human-70996">One year on, we should remember David Bowie as both genius and flawed human</a>
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<p>Sexual abuse in the music industry is a systemic, ongoing problem that won’t be resolved by just hacking away at the canon.</p>
<p>A further problem with this kind of blanket radio ban is the question of who else gets silenced if the music is turned off. Music-making is a communal activity. Do the many other people who contributed to an album or song deserve to have their work thrown in the bin as well?</p>
<p>More importantly, however, is the question of what happens to the stories of the victims. If we stop listening to Michael Jackson, does that simply allow us to avoid something uncomfortable, to not have to think about those little boys and what they allege happened to them?</p>
<p>Spotify went down a similar path of limiting exposure to the music of Kelly (and other artists such as XXXTentacion) in 2018, when it briefly <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/spotify-bans-r-kelly-and-xxxtentacion-but-where-s-the-consistency-1.733063">adopted a policy of not promoting problematic artists</a> in top playlists (although it did not ban the artists altogether). After a backlash from the record companies of the artists involved, Spotify backed away from this position fairly quickly, opting instead to introduce <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/01/spotify-artist-mute/">a “mute” button</a>, which allowed listeners to choose for themselves which artists they did not want to hear.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262572/original/file-20190307-100787-1675cj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">R. Kelly arrives for a child support hearing in Chicago on March 6.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tannen Maury/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jackson’s estate <a href="http://time.com/5510748/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson/">has described</a> Leaving Neverland as “a rehash of dated and discredited allegations” and filed a lawsuit against it. His family have condemned the film, saying <a href="http://time.com/5510748/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson/">its creators were not interested in the truth</a>. </p>
<p>Yet interestingly, the documentary form seems to be particularly effective at the moment in providing a platform for these artists’ accusers to be seen, heard, and believed. Accusations against Jackson are not new, but details about his alleged crimes were sparse in the early 2000s when he was taken to court. Having the gaps in this picture filled in by these men in their own words seems to have turned the tide of opinion – at least in some quarters – against the well-loved icon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262568/original/file-20190306-100787-fsy88q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An aerial view of the Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez near Santa Barbara, California, in 2003.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Armando Aroriyo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As with Jackson, tales about Kelly have been circulating for years, but seeing the faces and hearing the voices of his accusers (and their sheer number) seems to have provided an added impetus for action to be taken. </p>
<p>Perhaps the best solution is to face this problem head on. Keep Michael Jackson on the radio – but never play him without reminding listeners of what he has been accused of. Do the same with other artists similarly accused, or found guilty of, a crime. </p>
<p>Creating an ongoing conversation that does not allow us to sidestep these issues – and showing offenders that their music will from now on be associated with their abuse – may allow us to find a way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113109/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Strong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sexual abuse in the music industry is a systemic, ongoing problem that won’t be resolved by just hacking away at the canon.Catherine Strong, Senior Lecturer, Music Industry, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.