The biggest news in showbiz yesterday was the news about Nelly’s arrest for an alleged rape that reportedly happened the night of Friday to Saturday. A woman claims the rape happened in his tour bus that was parked on a Walmart parking lot near Seattle. He was on route to Washington, DC, where Nelly was due to perform that Saturday night.
The news was a real shock for many people in the media as well as his peers in music and has sparked many reactions ranging from support to Nelly, who immediately released a statement declaring his innocence, to people supporting the supposed victim.
These stories are always difficult and show the weaknesses of a society that we have created. For instance Akon, according to TMZ, responded to this story saying that men like him and Nelly are targets for women who think they can easily make some money accusing them of rape. That’s true, but they make themselves easy targets by picking up women everywhere. And while the women may be easy for them, most of the time, they come with this risk.
But Akon, let’s be straight, women are always a target, even without the fame and the fortune.
Either way, one thing is an individual right. Anyone, at any time, can say no and no means no.
Though Nelly is innocent ‘til proven guilty, I’ve always find these accusations to taint someone’s image anyway. Every time I see Chris Brown, I think of his violent behavior against women, or when I see Ceelo Green, I think of him once being accused of rape as well, a few years ago. Ceelo fed ecstasy to a women and had sex with her after she lots consciousness. The rape charge never made it to court due to lack of evidence, but he pleaded no contest to supplying her with ecstasy. Suddenly, the music just isn’t the same as before.
Nelly has had legal problems before for not paying taxes and drug possession (the latter got wiped off his record later). There have never been any reports of any misconduct towards people. Nelly has supported many charities over the years, including human rights activists, and he organized the “White and Black Ball” fundraiser for 10 years to collect money for scholarships and connecting people from all backgrounds.
