John Legend was famously the only major artist who didn’t turn down the request to appear in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary series, which he said was an “easy decision.” He and his wife Chrissy Teigen appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen last night, and Legend went into further detail about why he decided to appear in the project.
Answering a viewer-submitted question, Legend said there were two big reasons why he participated in the documentary: He knows and respects the director, and he believed that he could use his celebrity for good:
“I’m friends with the director. Her name is Dream Hampton, she’s awesome, […] I respect her work a lot, and she asked me to do it, so I said yes. Another reason I wanted to do it is because I have good friends who were part of the #MuteRKelly movement. They were literally marching in the streets and they work with rape victims in Chicago. […] I knew that as a celebrity I could lend my voice to something that would highlight these young people who have been hurt, and give them a voice, and make sure they’re heard, so I said, ‘I’m going to do it.'”
Meanwhile, R. Kelly’s former manager Henry James Mason turned himself in to authorities in Henry County, Georgia today on a warrant of terroristic threats. Mason was accused of threatening to kill Timothy Savage, the father of Joycelyn Savage, one of the women in the documentary. Savage stated that Mason told him, “I’m gonna do harm to you and your family, when I see you I’m gonna get you, I’m going to f*cking kill you.”
Legend also spoke about Kanye West during his stop by Watch What Happens Live, so watch clips from the episode above and below.
