Chance the Rapper says working with R Kelly was a 'mistake' after controversial documentary

'I apologise to all of his survivors for working with him'

Chance the Rapper has apologised for working with R Kelly, calling their collaboration a “mistake”.

The pair of Chicago natives have performed together, with Chance introducing the singer at Lollapalooza festival in 2014. A year later, they made the collaborative track “Somewhere in Paradise”.

During an interview on the latest episode of Surviving R Kelly – a docuseries featuring interviews with women who allege to have been the victim of mental, physical, and sexual abuse by Kelly – Chance expressed regret over working with the R&B artist.

“Making a song with R Kelly was a mistake,” he said. “Maybe I didn’t care because I didn’t value the accusers’ stories because they were black women. Usually, n***** that get in trouble for shit like this on their magnitude of celebrity, it’s light-skinned women or white women. That’s when it’s a big story. I’ve never really seen any pictures of R Kelly’s accusers.”

He added: “I made a mistake and I’m happy that those women are getting voices now and I can grow to understand better what my positioning should be or should’ve been when that opportunity came.”

Chance later elaborated on Twitter, writing: “The quote was taken out of context but the truth is any of us who ever ignored the R Kelly stories, or ever believed he was being setup/attacked by the system (as black men often are) were doing so at the detriment of black women and girls.

“I apologize to all of his survivors for working with him and for taking this long to speak out.”

Over the past two decades, Kelly has faced a number of accusations of sexual misconduct. Last year, the singer denied all allegations, including that he was holding a number of young women in a so-called cult.

The six-part docuseries Surviving R Kelly feature 50 interviews, including civil rights activist Tarana Burke, singer Sparkle, ex-wife Andrea Kelly, ex-girlfriend Kitti Jones, and brothers Carey and Bruce Kelly. One celebrity to speak out was John Legend, who later wrote on Twitter: “To everyone telling me how courageous I am for appearing in the doc, it didn’t feel risky at all. I believe these women and don’t give a f*** about protecting a serial child rapist. Easy decision.”