So, I was recently in a conversation that started out of casual conversation about the entertainment industry. We touched on how cool it was for the young lady from Blackish (Marsai Martin) getting Executive Producer credit at such a young age. Congrats, young queen. We named some names and discussed how some directors hire the same actors for their movies and then……
A joke about what some needed to do to get their breaks in the industry came up. We quickly got to the Terry Crews’ situation with the Hollywood agent and discussed how we felt about his handling of it. I felt he should have decked the guy immediately and was pissed when he stated that he didn’t react and didn’t go public because of fear he would never work again. This in my eyes was giving the assaulter a pass and enabling him to do it to others. I went on to say that I feel all sexual assaulted people should tell/act immediately because today’s media questions the motive of people coming forward after time has passed and again it allows the assaulter to assault others. I didn’t get much feedback but I do welcome some. I feel that the attackers are given passes in these scenarios and I disagree with giving it to them.
Another topic that I was confronted with was the R. Kelly situation as it pertained to Damon Dash. The perspective was a fresh one. His close friend and business partner Jay-Z (one of the few guys I look up to) made a decision to do business and make music with a man who was accused of statutory rape. Dame did not use the adjective statutory when discussing the topic. His way of handling it was to distance himself from the situation completely. No contact or conversation with R. Kelly. No executive producer credits meaning no profits from the project. He stated he didn’t react physically based on the wishes of Aaliyah and didn’t attempt to stop the project because of the potential of taking food out the mouths of other Roc-a-fella acts and execs involved. How did Dame handle the situation? Did he look the other way? It’s not as black and white as I feel the above is. I’m interested in what others think.
In closing, the people who chose to work with R. Kelly knew what was up and chose to give a pass or look the other way. Is that okay? The people (and I fall into this group) who continue to listen to his music are also making a decision to look the other way, at least a little, right? Is this okay?

Food for thought….you do the dishes