Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly explores extremely horrific sexual misconduct allegations against R. Kelly. Many were left mortified by the stories told about R. Kelly. However, he also seemed to inspire a lot of sexual abuse survivors to reach out for help.
According to The Daily Beast, the National Sexual Assault Hotline saw a major spike in calls last night during the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly. A spokesperson for RAINN -- which provides survivors with emotional support, information, and resources on abuse -- revealed that the hotline received a 27% increase in calls on Thursday night in comparison to the same day the week before. RAINN tweeted out a link to their hotline while the Lifetime docuseries aired, writing, “Watching or reading about ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ and need to talk? The National Sexual Assault Hotline is here 24/7.”
The influx of calls is common when major sexual abuse stories are in the news, RAINN said. When Christine Blasey Ford's testified against Brett Kavanaugh in September, there was a 147% increase of calls to their hotline.
Unfortunately, the Lifetime docuseries didn't necessarily hurt R. Kelly. In actuality, it proved that even with these testimonies from women, R. Kelly's fans will ride with him through thick and thin. A spokesperson for Spotify revealed that the streaming platform saw a 16% increase in streams for R. Kelly's music following the premiere of Surviving R. Kelly.