Kelly firing back $10.5 million lawsuit – claims he didn't know

Disgraced singer R. Kelly is fighting against a lawsuit filed by women claiming they were victimized by him. However, he said he didn't know about the suit and hence should not be held accountable.

In August 2023, six women were awarded $10.5 million after they sued him and his former manager Donnell Russell.

The suit states that R. Kelly, who is currently serving a 31-year prison sentence, was responsible for treating a mass shooting in an effort to shut down a December 2018 NYC screening of the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly.

TMZ has now reported that in new legal documents, the 57-year-old singer claims he would have defended himself against the massive lawsuit if he only knew about it.

Kelly, whose birth name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, claims his head is spinning over numerous criminal cases and prosecutions he is facing. He also added that he has been sued so many times he can hardly keep up with them from the North Carolina jail.

Kelly went on to claim he has changed legal teams many times and this lawsuit may have slipped through or was not delivered to him behind bars.

He also said that even if the lawsuit had been received, he wouldn't be able to understand it or distinguish it from any other legal documents.

“I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade-schooler,” he revealed – adding that he depends on his lawyers to explain legal documents.

Moreover, Kelly further claimed Donnell Russell was never his manager or he has no idea if Russell was trying to stop the 'Surviving' screening – as the lawsuit claimed. And even if Russell did make the threat, Kelly says, “he did that for his own reasons."

Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking charges.

The R&B singer was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex crimes after a jury discovered he produced videos of himself sexually assaulting his goddaughter, who was 14 years old at the time.

However, the judge ruled that he would be serving the 20-year sentence at the same time as his 30-year sentence – except for one year.