Even behind bars, R. Kelly wants the money he feels owed. As a result, he’s going after the federal government.
The disgraced singer is suing the United States government so he can return his commissary funds, per court documents.
Kelly is suing the United States government because, in March 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Heather Williams, an alleged victim of the singer, was entitled to access to all of the Chicago singer’s funds from his label, which was valued at $1.5 million.
This isn’t what Kelly wanted, so a year later, he’s trying to get them back.
The announcement for the hearing, which is scheduled for Monday, read, “The defendant is appealing his conviction and the government’s seizure of his substantial Bureau of Prisons commissary account to satisfy the financial penalties imposed in the case.”
If you’re interested in listening to the hearing, you can listen to the live stream here.
Although this particular case is related to Williams’ legal win a year ago, it isn’t the first time Williams won a judgment against Kelly. In 2020, she won a civil lawsuit against the singer after she claimed that he coerced her to come to his studio and had sex with her multiple times when she was only 16 years old.
Kelly has also been pretty busy filing lawsuits. In November 2023, the R&B singer filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), claiming that an agent illegally sold private prison records with gossip blogger Tasha K, including phone call recordings with his legal team and girlfriend.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s attorney, wrote in the lawsuit, “The defendant United States of America breached its duty of care to the plaintiff when it allowed countless BOP officers to access the plaintiff’s confidential information without any legal basis to do so.”