Guests at the Surviving R. Kelly premiere on Tuesday had to worry about their own survival after gun threats forced them to evacuate the venue.
According to a statement from Lifetime, “several anonymous threats were called in” to NeueHouse Madison Square in New York City, which was holding the premiere of the network’s documentary series about R. Kelly‘s alleged sex cult.
Related: Kelly Addresses Sex Cult Allegations In 19-Minute Song
The statement read:
“At tonight’s premiere of Lifetime’s documentary series Surviving R. Kelly at NeueHouse Madison Square, several anonymous threats were called in. As a precaution, the network elected to evacuate the building. The safety and security of our panel, guests and staff is of paramount importance to Lifetime.”
While NeueHouse described the threats as “non-credible” in a statement to ET, the venue and Lifetime, in collaboration with the NYPD, agreed to pull the plug on the screening as a precaution.
The event was attended by special guests like Kelly’s accusers, parents of the accusers, and other people in the doc — as well as #MeToo founder, Tarana Burke.
Burke took to Twitter Tuesday evening to comment on the evacuation, chalking the threats — a “BOMB THREAT,” she claimed — up to nothing more than “harassment” that Kelly’s survivors had to endure:
The worst of it isn’t the threat though bc it didn’t appear to be credible but the survivors who had to endure his harassment. #muteRkelly
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) December 5, 2018
NeueHouse said it will postpone the screening to a later date.
Surviving R. Kelly brings his accusers forward to share their stories. The doc is set to air on Lifetime over three nights, starting January 3 at 9 p.m. EST.
[Image via Lifetime/YouTube]
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