American singer-songwriter R. Kelly claims he was unaware of the August 2023 ruling in which six women filed a lawsuit against the artist and his alleged former manager Donnell Russell over the cancellation of the docuseries. Survival t. Kelly.
The lawsuit against the singer alleges that during a screening of the docu-series in New York in December 2018, a member of Kelly's team allegedly threatened to “shoot up” the venue, after which the show was shut down.
According to court documents, Kelly says he would have fought the lawsuit had he known about it. The singer claimed that if he received the lawsuit, he “could not read or understand words beyond those read by an elementary school student” and that he would rely on his lawyer to explain the terms of the lawsuit.
The singer and his former manager are allegedly accused of making repeated threats to silence six women who appeared in Survival t. Kelly Documentary series. The duo also threatened to take legal action against the women and the producer.
What did R. say? Kelly about Donnell Russell?
The latest court documents reveal that R. Kelly claimed that Russell never worked as his manager and believes the blame should fall on Russell's shoulders. Kelly also claimed that if Russell had made the threat that led to the show being cancelled, “he did so for his own reasons.”
While Russell received a one-year prison sentence from the lawsuit, the singer was sentenced in 2022 to 30 years in prison after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. The singer will remain in prison for another 20 years for child sex crimes.
A Chicago jury convicted the singer in February 2023 of six of the 13 charges brought against him in connection with sexual assault during the 1990s. Kelly is accused of forcing three minors to engage in sexual activity and three others of producing sex tapes involving a minor.
He was also acquitted of a charge of abusing his granddaughter and two other charges of soliciting minors for sex.
According to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times, Kelly has also been accused of grooming women as young as 15 using his fame.
According to Hot New Hip Hop, R. Kelly expressed that he is overwhelmed by the number of lawsuits filed against him that he cannot handle from his North Carolina prison cell.
Aside from the number of lawsuits, Kelly also blamed changes in his legal team for the show's lawsuit being missed in New York.
