R. Kelly was recently found guilty of kidnapping, racketeering, and sexual exploitation of a child during his trial in a Brooklyn court. The ruling came after seven weeks of shocking and graphic testimonies from witnesses. The conviction resulted in the removal of Kelly’s YouTube channel. Unfortunately, that did not stopa boost in his streaming numbers. According to Rolling Stone, Kelly experienced a “double-digit growth” in his streaming numbers and a “triple-digit growth” in sales.
The publication noted that from September 27 to October 3, Kelly’s on-demand audio streams increased by 22 percent and his video streams went up by 23%. His album sales jumped 517% while his streaming numbers went from 11.2 million to 13.4 million during this period. This uptick will certainly take a hit now that his YouTube account has been removed, a spokesperson for the company explained to Bloomberg. “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines,” they said in a statement.
This comes after his honorary “key to the city” in Baton Rouge was revoked following his guilty verdict. Baton Rouge Metro Council member Denise Marcelle, who gave the singer the key back in 2013, expressed her “regrets” for even awarding it to him in the first place.