The 'Surviving R. Kelly' showrunner also expressed her anger and confusion on social media.
Not everyone is happy with Taraji P. Henson.
The Empire actress received backlash after she took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday to compare the #MuteRKelly movement to Harvey Weinstein. The R. Kelly hashtag began in the wake of Surviving R. Kelly. The Lifetime docuseries tells the stories of several women alleging they were abused by the singer and producer. He has denied all allegations of abuse.
Henson appeared to question why the defamed movie producer was not receiving the same "#Mute" treatment as the rapper, as he too has been accused of sexually abusing women throughout his career. In the series of clips, she searches "#MuteRKelly" and sees a slew of posts. She then tries #MuteWeinsten to only find one post, and #MuteHarveyWeinstein only has 29 posts.
People on social media were not fans of Henson's logic, taking to Twitter to share their thoughts.
Surviving R. Kelly showrunner, Dream Hampton, also posted a lengthy response to Henson. "No idea why Taraji Henson wouldn't know that there are not one, but two projects abt Harvey Weinstein. But this is an oft-invoked deflection. While I care abt the Hollywood stars Weinstein abused, I care more abt Asante, Kitty, Jerhona, Lisette, Azriel & Joy & others, even more," she began. "Plus Weinstein is on trial. For rape."
"Plus, you don't really care about Weinstein, you just want silence around R. Kelly," she continued. "Taraji, like me, is from the generation whose job it was to deal with R. Kelly 20 years ago. We didn't and countless girls were harmed because of our inaction. So I made #SurvivingRKellly."
Meanwhile, Henson took notice of the negative attention she was receiving and tweeted: "LET ME BE CLEAR R. KELLY IS GUILTY AND WRONG AND SHOULD BE MUTED PERIOD!!!!!"
As for Weinstein, while he has not been "muted," he was fired from his company. The #MeToo movement was created, as was Time's Up, and he ended up being arrested, and charged with rape.
Just last month another sexual assault case against the businessman moved forward. Judge James Burke ruled on Dec. 20, after a flurry of court papers in which Weinstein's lawyers said the case has devolved into chaos, and prosecutors argued there was ample evidence to move forward to trial.
For more on the case, watch below.
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