Jack Antonoff asked record label to drop R Kelly 'a number of times'

Singer and producer appeared to respond to allegations in a new BBC documentary about the controversial singer

(Getty)

Jack Antonoff said he has asked his label to drop R Kelly "a number of times", in a now-deleted tweet that appeared to refer to the fresh slew of allegations against the R&B singer.

Antonoff, who is signed to RCA as is Kelly, tweeted on 28 March: "I hope my label drops R Kelly. I've discussed it with them a number of times." A screenshot of the tweet is available via Stereogum.

Antonoff was a member of the band Fun and now performs as Bleachers, as well as producing and co-writing albums by some of the world's biggest pop stars, including Taylor Swift (1989, reputation) and Lorde (Melodrama).

His post was sent the same day a new documentary, R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes, was aired on BBC Three. It detailed allegations by former girlfriends, ex-managers and former bandmates who spoke about their experiences with Kelly.

Kitti Jones, who dated the singer for two years from 2011, alleged that at some point in their relationship he introduced her to a girl "that he told me he 'trained' since she was 14', those were his words."

"I saw that she was dressed like me, that she was saying the things I'd say and her mannerisms were like mine. That's when it clicked in my head that he had been grooming me to become one of his pets. He calls them his pets."

Jones, who claimed in the documentary interview that Kelly also groomed her and forced her to have sex with him and at least 10 others in his "sex dungeon", also alleged he made the unnamed woman "crawl on the floor towards me and perform oral sex on me. He said, 'this is my f**king pet, I trained her. She's going to teach you how to be with me'."

Kelly has been the subject of multiple allegations surrounding his treatment of women and underage girls for years, including having sex with underage girls, possessing child pornography, and most recently leading an abusive "sex cult". He has consistently and vehemently denied all of the claims.

A representative for Kelly told The Independent he had no comment about the new allegations at the time of writing.

R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes is available now on BBC Three