Most music fans on social media will tell you to stick a fork in Bridget Kelly. She’s done.
Or is she?
It was just 2 years ago that Kelly’s “Summer of 17” was being heralded as the project of the summer. Her career has had some bright spots — she was, after all, an original Roc Nation artist who filled in seamlessly on Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind” live performances when the Alicia Keys, the featured artist on the song, was not available . She’s released collaborations with rapper Kendrick Lamar and singer Frank Ocean. She claims Jerry Wonda as a mentor.
The past few months have not been kind to the New York City native and music prodigy. She was the subject of mixed to negative reviews for her appearance on reality soap drama “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood,” which has not been overall favorable for women and their private lives. By joining arguably the most controversial and toxic reality series on Cable Television, fans felt that the increased spotlight from appearing in the series would provide a much needed boost to the profile of Kelly, vindicating R&B’s most cherished singer since the turn of the century.
In the eyes of many music fans, however, Kelly still remains far from vindicated. The stigma surrounding the newly christened reality TV star has installed doubt in the minds of many music fans—enough so that many aren’t likely to forgive her for her connection to the series and her subsequent behavior for a very, very long time.
Kelly, who was making good strides in her post-Roc Nation journey, claimed—among other things—that she was “getting back to doing things that were really fulfilling” in an interview with women’s entertainment website xonecole.com, back in October 2016, saying:
“I’m more confident than ever because I know that everything that’s happening around me is what I’m building. I’m not reactionary anymore, I’m proactive. Everything that’s going on in my life, either I made a decision to put myself here or I’m reacting differently. I now know who I am.”
While there were plenty of those who believed in Kelly’s nice girl next door persona throughout the entire Roc Nation run, there were just as many—if not more—who objected the persona by virtue of her antics behind the scenes, which reached Mariah Carey levels of behavior. It didn’t take long for Kelly’s doubters to chime in and distribute their thoughts on the matter, which by no means was a surprise given the nature of the situation.
Now well into the current season of “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood,” and—as expected—the unambiguous hostility directed toward Kelly persists. With every scene away from the friendly confines of a recording studio or performance stage, Kelly is subjected to incessant scrutiny, and that isn’t likely to change as the year progresses.
Whether Kelly knows her current endeavor is hurting more than helping won’t solve her dilemma in the hearts of fans. Music fans will always have their opinions, and that’s something that she’ll have to deal with if she expects to re-earn the respect from fans anytime soon.
Will it be a rough 2018 for Kelly as she tries to combat the venom spewed from the mouths of fans regarding her behavior on the series? That’s too early to tell. But without question, fan forgiveness is a long ways off at this juncture.
With time, though, forgiveness will come—hopefully. Too bad this all started during the Summer of (20)17.
