While behind bars, R. Kelly is paying large amounts to his victims, and the outcome of the newest lawsuit against him implies that he will have to dip into his bank accounts some more.
This week, the controversial R&B legend was hit with some bad news in the finance department. He has been ordered by a judge, along with his longtime music publisher, Universal Music Group, to pay over $500,000 to his victims.
U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly has ordered R. Kelly to use the income he generated via his royalties to cover restitution for his victims.
Before becoming a convicted sex offender who is serving 30 years in federal prison, R. Kelly was a global superstar thanks to his voice, songwriting, and producing skills.
The Chicago-born artist has a catalog that compares to that of Michael Jackson and The Beatles. Robert Kelly has also written for and collaborated with hundreds of artists, including Celine Dion, Usher, Maxwell, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston.
With a career that spans over three decades, R. Kelly has amassed an impressive fortune. However, his royalties will not be going to his bank accounts or his family.
According to TMZ, the women who appeared in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries have successfully sued the music star and his former manager, Donnell Russell.
The six women have been awarded $10.5 million. Court documents showed that the women took Kelly and his former associate to court over threats made to shut down a December 2018 NYC screening of the Lifetime docuseries.
The media outlet reported: “They alleged the defendants waged a campaign, starting back in May 2018, to intimidate the women, A&E/Lifetime, and the producers to stop screening the docuseries. When those efforts, including legal threats, failed … They claimed Kelly’s camp called producers on the night of the NYC screening and said someone was “going to shoot up the place.”
The threatening phone call succeeded in forcing the cancellation of the event. In the lawsuit, the women stated that the fake mass shooting reignited their past trauma and resulted in them suffering PTSD and panic attacks.
It is not known if R. Kelly has $10.5 million to pay the women. Dozens of women appeared in the docuseries to reveal that they were abused by Kelly.
Kelly was slapped with a long list of criminal charges, including sex trafficking and racketeering, and was tried in multiple states.
R. Kelly’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said her client is innocent, and she will “seek the return of every cent that has been wrongfully taken from him.”
She is the same lawyer that got Bill Cosby out of prison.
