Singer R. Kelly is being forced to come to terms with more than his criminal acts and convictions that have landed him behind bars. Kelly apparently has been living in another type of prison all of his life, one of illiteracy. The “Bump and Grind” hitmaker who has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct, recently admitted that he cannot read beyond a sixth-grade level.
Court documents dated November 2, 2023, disclosed that Kelly who is denying any responsibility in a multi-million-dollar lawsuit and judgement against the disgraced singer accusing him of attempting to stop the screening of the demeaning docuseries “Surviving R. Kelly.” His former manager, Donnell Russell is also named in the suit.
“I would not have been able to understand the lawsuit or distinguish it from the many other legal documents that I received. It all looks the same to me,” Kelly stated. “I rely on my lawyers to explain things to me because I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade-schooler.”
In August 2023, a judge awarded $10.5 million to the six women behind the suit, reports The Blast.
Citing the R. Kelly affidavit, The Blast noted the singer’s lengthy rebuttal of the charges from the women. According to Kelly, he did not know the suit, given his incarceration in Butner FCI, North Carolina.
Kelly, aka, Robert Sylvester Kelly, continues to protest his lengthy prison sentence and last year claimed that things are getting worse for him in jail. Apparently, not only is the disgraced singer not getting special treatment, he says he is also not getting medical treatment for blood clots in his legs, a life threatening condition.
“I want to die of natural causes and I deserve that. I don’t deserve to die because somebody miscommunicated or somebody took a guess at what’s going on with my leg,” he “Ignition” singer began. “I’m not supposed to die that way, you not even supposed to take a chance on that.”
“If it was your child, if it was your father, if it was your mother—somebody you love. You would’ve said go to the doctor, we need to get that checked out, we need to look at that, we need to X-ray that. They didn’t even X-ray. That’s why I’m speaking out on this because I’m scared for my life in that area. And who wouldn’t be? Who wouldn’t be? They treat animals better than that.”
Kelly’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, claimed his client had been subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment” due in part to his celebrity status.
The 57-year-old is serving out a thirty-year-long prison sentence for child sex crimes and other offenses including racketeering and sex trafficking.