Two North Texas radio stations drop R. Kelly from playlists

Two North Texas-based radio stations have dropped controversial R&B singer R. Kelly from their playlists after new allegations became public in a recent miniseries.

K104 (KKDA 104.5 FM) and Smooth R&B 105.7 (KNRB 105.7 FM) announced in the past few days they have stopped playing the singer. Both are owned by the Service Broadcasting Corporation.

“Smooth R&B 105.7 and K104 made the decision to drop R. Kelly’s music from our playlists due to the outpouring of concern from our listeners regarding Kelly’s alleged sexual assaults of underage girls,” Service Broadcasting said in a statement. “There are no immediate plans to drop music from any other artists.”

An announcement about the decision was made during “The Morning Rush” on Smooth R&B 105.7 earlier this week.

“In good conscience, we can’t continue to support this guy,” said co-host Claudia Jordan.

Professionally, R. Kelly has had a major influence on the R&B music scene for decades. But Jordan says allegations about his personal life can no longer be ignored.

“Never did I think that we'd blame little kids and take the blame off the perpetrator because we like his music,” she said. “It's too much information now to support someone who I don't agree with what he's done. And the criticism has been Why now? And why are people outraged? We've been on this for 20 years. That’s not necessarily true. I feel like a lot of things were revealed in the documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly” that I didn't know.”

R. Kelly is facing renewed scrutiny from the public and law enforcement after new claims were made against him in the Lifetime miniseries documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.” It featured allegations of R. Kelly having sex with underage girls, physical abuse and operating a sex cult.

His lawyers say the allegations are false and reportedly called the docuseries "another round of lies."

Jordan says her station's stance is not about destroying R. Kelly but rather prioritizing the victims in a Me Too era.

“Here's the thing: When people keep doing things you don't agree with that are immoral or illegal or that don't sit right with your spirit and you continue to buy tickets to their concerts and download their music, you are putting money in their pockets and you are enabling them to continue doing what they do,” she said.

TMZ reported on Tuesday that investigators from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office in Georgia are trying to reach out to some of the alleged victims who participated in the miniseries.