Six women who appeared in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries were awarded $10.5 million after they successfully sued the disgraced singer and his former manager over a threat that shut down a 2018 screening.
The women made allegations against R. Kelly in the documentary, and the singer and Donnell Russell, his manager at the time, continually attempted to silence them. The first season of the docuseries aired on Lifetime in January 2019, but Kelly and Russell reportedly made various legal threats against the women and the producers of the show ahead of its release.
Someone on Kelly’s team later threatened to “shoot up” a December 2018 screening of the docuseries in New York City, which prompted the event to shut down. Per the judgment, the six women should be awarded between $1.1 million to $2.25 million each.
TMZ is now reporting, R. Kelly is fighting back against the judgement.
He says he didn’t know about the suit and shouldn’t be held accountable.
According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly claims he would have defended himself against the lawsuit if he knew about the darn thing.
The disgraced singer claims his head is already spinning over his various criminal cases and prosecutions … and he’s been sued so many times lately he can hardly keep up with it all from his prison cell in North Carolina.
Kelly also claims he’s also shuffled legal teams since being locked up … and he says this lawsuit must have slipped through the cracks, or not have been delivered to him behind bars at all.
Even if the lawsuit had been received, Kelly says he wouldn’t be able to understand it or distinguish it from any other legal documents … saying he relies on his lawyers to explain things to him because “I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler.”
What’s more, Kelly claims Donnell was never his manager as the lawsuit claimed … and he says he had no idea Russell was trying to stop the ‘Surviving’ screening.
Kelly says he didn’t ask Donnell to do so and says if Russell did make a mass shooting threat to stop the screening, “he did that for his own reasons.”
There’s still a question if the women will see a dime of the $10.5 million judgment … but it’s clear Kelly doesn’t think he’s responsible for this one.
