Audio By Carbonatix
R. Kelly and Universal Music Group will have to pay over $500,000 in music royalties to Brooklyn federal prosecutors to help pay for his victim’s restitution and criminal fines. The company is the imprisoned multiplatinum singer’s longtime music publisher.
On Aug. 23, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly signed an order directing Universal Music Group to turn over the payment to cover the fines R. Kelly still owes, per Bloomberg Law.
Donnelly had previously ordered Kelly to pay just shy of $28,000 in his prison inmate account to cover his unpaid fines.
R. Kelly is serving 30 years in prison for his 2021 racketeering and sex trafficking convictions in New York. As part of his sentencing in 2022, the disgraced R&B singer, UMG and Sony Music Entertainment were handed the half-million dollar bill to be paid to sexual abuse victims.
That file cited both UMG and Sony were believed to be “in possession of property” belonging to Kelly that amounted to the $504,289 bill that he currently owes in restitution fees and criminal fines.
This latest ruling, however, states Sony Music will no longer have to offer payments for this particular bill since R. Kelly’s royalties with Universal will cover it.
A representative for Universal Music Group’s publishing division declined Variety‘s request for comment.
The 56-year-old singer, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was found guilty on nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering in September 2021 after a six-week trial revealed how he had used employees and intermediaries to lure fans and hopeful singers into sexually abusive and controlling conditions, including locking them in rooms without food or access to a bathroom for days.
He was also found guilty on three counts of coercing minors into sexual activity and three of producing sex tapes involving a minor.
This news is the culmination of nearly three decades of allegations against Kelly.
His career — and his alleged abuse — continued until allegations began arising again in the early 2010s and finally “Surviving R. Kelly,” a 2019 Lifetime docuseries featuring vivid accounts from his alleged victims, turned public opinion dramatically against him, even though it largely repeated information that had been public for many years.
By the time he was jailed, his substantial touring and recorded music income — which had funded the lawyers and other efforts to keep the allegations against him at bay — had largely dried up.
Latest Stories
-
Former deputy A-G alleges improper court process in Kpandai election matter
3 minutes -
‘Aben Wo Ha News’ fanbase bond over year-end excursion to Buaben-Fiema and Kintampo falls
5 minutes -
Clerk to parliament overstepped in triggering EC action on Kpandai seat- Tuah-Yeboah
30 minutes -
Nyindam should remain an MP until appeals end – Prof Appiagyei-Atua
34 minutes -
The idea that elections are won at the polling stations generates violence – Kofi Bentil
1 hour -
Parliament’s declaration Kpandai seat vacant was premature – Kofi Bentil
1 hour -
Ashanti Regional Police deploy over 1,000 officers for festive security
1 hour -
Green Communities International appoints Ing. Prof. Douglas Boateng as board chair to drive Africa’s green transition
1 hour -
Ghana’s Sahel envoy facilitates release of Nigerian aircraft from Burkina Faso
2 hours -
MIIF, Gold Fields executives hold strategic talks on potential investment opportunities
2 hours -
Ghana temporarily closes five historic coastal forts for maintenance
2 hours -
Trade Minister tours Ekumfi Juice Factory, assures support for expansion
2 hours -
Canada and Ghana explore new frontiers to boost trade and investment
2 hours -
Gov’t moves to validate national agribusiness policy for inclusive growth
2 hours -
Gideon Boako slams Bryan Acheampong over alleged false claim involving Bawumia
2 hours
