Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
So how did Lifetimeget to be the one to potentially undo him?
The answer is an undertaking that took over a year to develop.
Instead, they booked him on their award shows.
The immediate difference with Lifetime, Daniels recalls, was it felt like they were all-in from the beginning.
We didnt look back after that, he says.
But with the documentary lacking newsiness, the connection had to come up with an angle to attract viewership.
The conversation then became,How do you make the strongest platform possible for these women?
Lifetime exec Brie Bryant says.
However, DeRogatis declined due to creative differencesand his own separate R. Kelly doc in the works with BuzzFeed.
But I have enormous respect for Dream Hampton.
Everything that was good about that series was thanks to her.
But before she signed on, Hampton was equally skeptical of Bunim-Murray and Lifetime.
I didnt want to get involved, she told Vulture.
And Lifetime, I had watched themfictionalize Aaliyahs story.
I said, Im not interested in doing some re-creation of R. Kelly.
And there wasnt some buffet of people trying to do this story about black girls.
I failed to open Jeffrey Dahmers fridge, she says.)
The interview process proved to be an uphill battle.
The stakes involved with interviewing the survivors proved even higher.
From a legal stance, the vetting process for those who did consent to appear had to be exhaustive.
I think I have a law degree now, Simmons says.
Meanwhile, Bunim-Murray attorneys were present in the room during all of Hamptons interviews with the alleged victims.
Because we had to anticipate at any moment R. Kelly suing us.
Several of the survivors were in attendance.
The threat has since beentracedback to a Kelly associate.
But Bryant says Lifetime has not yet made any decisions on a follow-up special about these new developments.
She and the producers instead intend on closely monitoring the continued fallout.
The conversations that are happening are almost bigger than the doc, Daniels says.
