YouTube removes 2 R. Kelly channels after guilty verdict

YouTube has removed two R. Kelly channels after he was found guilty of sex trafficking.

The video sharing giant has taken down RKellyTV and RKellyVevo, after a federal jury in Brooklyn, New York, found the ‘Ignition’ singer guilty of all nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking last month.

Kelly – whose first name is Robert – is no longer allowed to create any new channels on the site, which is owned by Google.

YouTube said in a statement: “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.”

However, videos of the ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ hitmaker uploaded by others will remain on the site, and, at the time of writing, his tunes remain on audio-streaming platform YouTube Mu.

An online campaign, MuteRKelly, has called on streaming services to remove Kelly’s mu from their platforms.

He is due to be sentenced in May next year.

Kelly had pleaded not guilty to racketeering and violating a federal law making it illegal to transport people across state lines for prostitution, but the five women and seven men of the jury found him guilty on just their second day of deliberations.

He is still awaiting child pornography and obstruction charges in Illinois, for which a trial can now be scheduled as the New York proceedings are complete, as well as other state-level sexual misconduct charges in both Illinois and in Minnesota.

The singer has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges against him and has repeatedly claimed he is innocent of any alleged sexual misconduct over the years.

In 2008, he was acquitted of child pornography charges.