R. Kelly cries foul in $10.5 million lawsuit that was awarded last year to victims who made the docuseries

American singer-songwriter R. Kelly claims that he was unaware of an August 2023 ruling in which six women sued the artist and his alleged former manager Donnel Russel for reportedly canceling the screening of the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

The lawsuit against the singer claims that in a December 2018 screening of the docuseries in New York, someone from Kelly's team allegedly threatened to "shoot up" the venue, after which the screening was shut down.

As per the court documents, Kelly argues that he would have fought the lawsuit had he known about it. The singer claimed that if he did receive the lawsuit, he "cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler" and that he relies upon his lawyers to explain the terms of the lawsuit.

The singer and his former manager were allegedly accused of making repeated threats to silence six women who appeared in the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. The duo had also threatened to take legal action against the women and the producer.

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What did R. Kelly say about Donnel Russell?

The latest court documents reveal that R. Kelly claimed that Russell never served as his manager and believed the blame should fall on Russell's shoulders. Kelly also claimed that if Russel had made the threat that led to the screening cancellation, "he did that for his own reasons."

While Russel received a one-year sentence from the lawsuit, the singer was sentenced in 2022 to 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of racketeering and s*x trafficking. The singer will be in prison for another 20 years for a child s*x crime charge.

The jury in Chicago convicted the singer in February 2023, of six of the 13 charges against him in connection with s*xual abuse during the 1990s. Kelly is accused of coercing three minors into s*xual activity and three of producing s*x tapes involving a minor.

He was also acquitted of a charge related to the abuse of his goddaughter and two other counts of enticing minors to have s*x.

According to a report by the Chicago Sun Times, Kelly was also accused of approaching women as young as 15 years old by using his fame.

As per Hot New Hip Hop, R. Kelly expressed that he's overwhelmed by the number of lawsuits against him and cannot handle them from his North Carolina Prison Cell.

Apart from the number of lawsuits, Kelly also blamed the changes in his legal team for missing the NY screening lawsuit.