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Phoenix Say They Regret Collaborating With R. Kelly

INGLEWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 10: Deck d'Arcy of Phoenix speaks during an interview at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2017 at The Forum on December 10, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for KROQ)

Another act has rebuked their past collaboration with R. Kelly. This time it’s Phoenix, who strangely released a remix of their Bankrupt! single “Trying to Be Cool” featuring the R&B singer in 2013. The band also brought Kelly on stage during their Coachella performance earlier that year. Phoenix said today they regret the decisions.

“We are deeply horrified by the stories of abuse surrounding R. Kelly,” the band tweeted. “We regret that we were not both more informed and more discerning when we worked with him previously. We fully support all victims of sexual abuse, and it’s our hope that there will be a path to justice.”

The note follows Lady Gaga’s apology last night for working with R. Kelly on her ARTPOP single “Do What U Want (With My Body).” Gaga called her justification at the time “extremely twisted” and said she’s working to remove the song from streaming services.

Both statements come in the wake of Lifetime’s six-part documentary Surviving R. Kelly, which documents decades of Kelly’s alleged sexual abuse of women and underage girls. The series also features an interview in which Chance the Rapper, who released a song with R. Kelly in 2015, calls his collaboration with the singer a “mistake.”

Read Phoenix’s tweet below.