Jada Pinkett comes out in support of R. Kelly's victims

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith says it's heartbreaking how some people have criticised victims for speaking against singer R. Kelly, who has been accused of sexually assaulting several women.

On a special edition of "Red Table Talk," titled "Surviving R. Kelly: The Aftermath (Part 1)", Jada discussed about the docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" and spoke about viewers' backlash against Kelly's victims, reports tmz.com.

She said: "I think that's been very heartbreaking for me. Just how harsh the reactions have been."

Jada blamed the public at large, including herself, for ignoring the testimonies of the alleged victims years ago.

"I have to tell you, I felt a lot of things. I had a lot of feelings about it. One being, I was like 'Man, wow how complicit we all have been?' That really broke my heart, like to really think about. We, we ignored it," she added.

As several women had accused Kelly of sexual assault a few years ago, the "Bad Moms" actress urged everyone to "examine the self-hatred" and focus on the people who have been raped and molested.

She also pointed out how some of the negative reactions included people saying that the underage victims were just "gold diggers" and "hot ass little girls".

"Those kind of reactions shut people down," she added.

--IANS

sim/rb/mr