Guests gathered at NeueHouse Madison Square in New York Tuesday night for a screening of the upcoming Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly were evacuated when a gun threat against the venue was reportedly phoned in.
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke, writer and cultural critic Jamilah Lemieux, journalist Kierna Mayo, author and social worker Feminista Jones, a number of Kelly’s accusors including Kitti Jones, Jerhonda Pace, Lisa Van Allen, Asante McGee and Lizzette Martinez, and the other attendees were asked to leave the venue after the threat.
A Lifetime representative told the Hollywood Reporter: “There was a called-in gun threat, so as a precaution we evacuated.”
Burke, Lemieux, Mayo and Jones tweeted and shared photos and video as the situation unfolded.
Surviving R. Kelly details the physical, emotional and mental abuse R&B singer has been accused of. There has been a long history of sexual misconduct allegations against Kelly, who has also been accused of running an abusive cult. The docuseries is scheduled to air over the course of three nights on Lifetime beginning Jan. 3 at 9 p.m. EST/PST.
It seems apparent someone wanted to intimidate both the accusers as well as their supporters and those who believe Kelly is guilty of the crimes he’s been accused of.
Judging from the tweets, none of those people are ready to back down, and the gun threat has not stopped their quest to #MuteRKelly.
This story is developing and will be updated once more details come available.