Sparkle Slams Erykah Badu, Taraji P. Henson For Their Comments on R. Kelly

Erykah Badu and Taraji P. Henson were way out of line with their initial public reactions to the R. Kelly scandal ... so says one of the first celebs to speak out on R. Kelly's alleged abuse.

Sparkle, who collabed with R. Kelly on her 1998 hit song, "Be Careful," has major issues with the way Erykah and Taraji initially seemed to come to R. Kelly's defense ... because Sparkle says weak responses like theirs prevent other victims from coming forward.

Sparkle, who is featured in "Surviving R. Kelly," says the black community needs to show R. Kelly some tough love ... NOT the unconditional love Erykah offered.

As for Taraji comparing the number of people using the #MuteRKelly hashtag with the number of people using similar hashtags for Harvey Weinstein ... Sparkle says the comparison is stupid because abusers are abusers. Period.