R. Kelly Kicked Out Of YouTube After Singer’s Sex Trafficking Conviction

YouTube Removes R. Kelly Channels After Sex Trafficking Conviction

YouTube permanently suspended two channels of disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly has been permanently banned from YouTube. The disgraced singer’s two channels has been suspended after he was found guilty of sex trafficking last week.

YouTube will not allow him to create any new channels going forward. However, YouTube hasn’t banned Kelly’s music: The internet video giant will continue to offer the singer’s music catalog on YouTube Music.

According to Variety, YouTube removed the two channels — RKellyTV (which had 3.5 million subscribers) and RKellyVevo (which had about 1.6 million subscribers) on Tuesday, citing a violation of its terms of service. Attempts to watch videos on the now-removed channels displays a message that says, “This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.”

 

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“Egregious actions committed by R. Kelly warrant penalties beyond standard enforcement measures due to a potential to cause widespread harm,” YouTube VP of legal Nicole Alston wrote in a memo, as reported by Bloomberg. “Ultimately we are taking this action to protect our users similar to other platforms.”

Kelly’s official accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook also have recently been disabled.

YouTube’s move to delete Kelly’s channels comes eight days after a federal jury found him guilty of racketeering and eight charges of an anti-sex trafficking law. Kelly is set to be sentenced May 4, 2022. The 54-year-old faces 10 years to life in prison.

YouTube said it pulled down the channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with its “creator responsibility guidelines” That policy prohibits “on- and/or off-platform behavior that we may consider to be inappropriate,” including “intending to cause malicious harm to others” and “participating in abuse or violence, demonstrating cruelty, or participating in fraudulent/deceptive behavior leading to real-world harm.”