R. Kelly is attempting to absolve himself from the multimillion-dollar settlement linked to victims who participated in the Surviving R. Kelly docu-series.
As reported by TMZ, legal documents obtained on Monday (January 15) Kelly is claiming he didn’t have the opportunity to defend himself in the lawsuit because he wasn’t even aware of it. The lawsuit the convicted singer is referring concerns he and his ex-manager, Donnell Russell, who were accused of devising a plan to stop a New York City screening of “Surviving R. Kelly” in December 2018 by implementing an intimidating campaign. The ruling against Kelly and Russell entails compensation ranging from $1.1 million to $2.25 million for each of the six women—totaling a sum of $10.5 million.
Kelly cites a combination of mounting criminal and civil cases in addition to changes in his legal representation as factors leading to his inaction in the case.
According to the court documents, Kelly claims “cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler,” and relies on his legal team to help him understand lawsuits. Additionally, he claims Russell was never his manager and had no knowledge of his actions because “he did that for his own reasons.”
Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes including sex trafficking and racketeering in New York.