R. Kelly Documentary Screening Evacuated After Gun Threat

A screening for Lifetime’s documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly” was evacuated over a gun threat.

According to Variety, the evacuation during Tuesday’s event at NeueHouse Madison Square in Manhattan was done as a precaution after the venue received two anonymous calls.

Around 15 minutes after the screening began at 7 p.m., two threatening calls were made to the venue saying that someone had a gun, which resulted in the NYPD’s evacuation of the theater.

Among those in attendance at the screening were #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and seven R. Kelly accusers including his ex-wife, Drea Kelly, Kitti Jones, Asante Jones, Faith Rodgers, Lizzette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, and Jerhonda Pace. All of the women who appeared in the documentary were set to speak on a panel at the event.

“At tonight’s premiere of Lifetime’s documentary series ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ at NeueHouse Madison Square, several anonymous threats were called in,” Lifetime said in a statement. “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.”

So…Y’ALL ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!
Tonight was a private screening of the @lifetimetv documentary #survivingRkelly where his survivors, parents of survivors, and folks featured in the doc were gathered and a BOMB THREAT was called in and the event shut down. #muteRkelly

— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) December 5, 2018

Burke, who appears in the documentary and was a panelist at Tuesday’s event, addressed the evacuation on social media. “I am unnerved. I can’t believe these intimidation tactics. But we will prevail,” she wrote on Instagram, along with the hashtag #MuteRKelly.

“Surviving R. Kelly,” a six-part documentary series, features more than 50 interviews with accusers and public figures including John Legend, Wendy Williams, and singer Sparkle. It will air in three installments starting Jan. 3 at 9 p.m.