R. Kelly has been hit with another lawsuit after allegedly failing to pay millions of dollars to six victims after they won a 2023 judgment against him.
In August 2023, Lizette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, Kelly Rogers, Faith Rogers, Roderick Gartrell and Gem Pratts won a $10.3million civil case against Kelly and his former manager, Donnell Russell, including $5.1million in compensatory damages and over $4.5 million in punitive damages.
Last Saturday (February 8), news broke that the victims filed a new lawsuit against Kelly and his label Universal Music, claiming they have only received a fraction of the money from the 2023 judgment. Kelly allegedly still owes $9.9million of the balance owed to the victims (per RadarOnline).
Kelly’s current lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean gave a statement to TMZ, saying: “This outrageous default judgment was entered contrary to court rules, legal precedent, and basic principles of fairness. A New York court conducted a hearing in Mr. Kelly’s absence and without his knowledge while he was incarcerated in Chicago, awarding a staggering $10,000,000 to plaintiffs for conduct committed by someone else.”
She added: “A pattern has emerged from courts across the country deciding that Mr. Kelly is not entitled to the same Due Process rights as everyone else. It’s getting old. No court would have been that cavalier with the money of a white man. Our appeal is pending on this issue.”
Despite the judgment, Kelly denied any knowledge of the case and has contested his liability.
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina, following he was convicted of federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges in 2021. The following year, the 58-year-old was also found guilty of six counts of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. He was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison in February 2023. Kelly will serve both sentences concurrently, effectively extending his incarceration to 31 years.
After Kelly was sentenced in 2022, the state of Illinois dropped the charges Kelly had in Cook County due to the “extensive sentences” he’s already serving at a federal level.
Last October, a new two-part docuseries called R Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey was released, following the singer-songwriter’s daughter Buku Abi. In the series, she alleged that she was abused by her father, saying: “He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened.”
In a statement shared with People, Bonjean said Kelly “vehemently denies” the allegations: “His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded, and the ‘filmmakers’ – whoever they are – did not reach out to Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these hurtful claims.”
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.