Asย R. Kellyย continues dodging responsibility for theย years of sexual abuse allegationsagainst him, heโs also swerving around his financial obligations. His lawyer admittedย at a hearingย that Kellyโs finances were โa mess,โ so much so that the disgraced R&B singer needed a friend to bail him out of jail. Now, new court documents from yet another case against Kelly have revealed just how dire his monetary situation is.
In addition to owingย $160,000 in child supportย (which heโs since paid, again with the help of a friend), Kelly was sued by the landlord of his Chicago studio (the warehouse location out of where his so-called โsex cultโ was based) for over $200,000 in back rent. The landlord won a $173,000 judgement, which triggered Kellyโs creditor, Midwest Commercial Funding, to seize some of Kellyโs bank accounts, as well as issue subpoenas to Sony; the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; and Kellyโs other banks to see where they could recoup their loses.
As a result of the subpoenas, court documents revealed that Kellyโs account at Wintrust Bank isnโt just completely drained, but in the red with negative balance of $13. Over $150,000 in holdings were also sucked out of Bank of America, leaving just $625 in Kellyโs pair of accounts there (viaย The Blast).
Even with all of this, the landlord is still owed $50,000.ย Complexย reports that theyโre attempting to get Sony to cover the remaining cost, though the label claims to owe no more money to Kelly. (Sonyย cut tiesย with the embattled singer back in January.)
On top of all the troubles mentioned above, Kellyย is facing finesย of up to $66,000 per day by the city of Chicago for code violations โ including building an illegal sauna and bar โ in the vey studio for which he wasnโt even paying rent. Then, of course, thereโs the mounting legal fees. Itโs no wonder heโs been forced to take $22,000 paydays for aย nightclub appearance.
Kelly has been charged withย 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse, for which he faces a potential 40-70 years in prison.