The 'I Believe I Can Fly' singer also opens up about his struggles behind bars, claiming he suffered numerous health issues, underwent surgeries, and got attacked while sleeping.
- Dec 16, 2022
AceShowbiz - R. Kelly seemed furious as he told people to "leave [his] music alone" in an email from jail. The message was received by the Chicago Sun-Times from the convicted sex predator through an email service for federal inmates.
Kelly's defence attorney Jennifer Bonjean reportedly confirmed the note appeared to be an authentic message from her client, but she added it was likely typed by someone else, saying, "He has people inside who he dictates to. That's how he writes me all the time."
The Sun-Times said the message pleaded with people to "just leave my music alone, because it is all I have left, it's all my fans have left." It added, "And they deserve to be able to listen to the music despite what people try and say about me, what they think about me or even do to me. So please, again, LEAVE MY MUSIC ALONE!!!"
The message comes after an album of Kelly's new and unheard music was released on streamers including Apple Music and Spotify under the album title "I Admit It" - which has since been removed from the platforms.
It also contains complaints about the loss of a career, money, and family, and the sender said they have suffered Covid, diabetes, and tuberculosis behind bars, and underwent two surgeries. The email also talks about an attack on Kelly by a fellow inmate in 2020.
Kelly was this year found guilty of three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor into criminal sexual activity. A jury found he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl on camera after she asked him to be her godfather in the 1990s and that he enticed two additional girls into criminal sexual activity.
Kelly, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, who is being held at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center, is serving a 30-year prison sentence for a racketeering conviction in New York, and faces sentencing in February over a case in Chicago.
The full message sent to the Sun-Times says, "LEAVE MY MUSIC ALONE!!! They already got me in here. They took my voice. They messed my whole career up. They took all my money. They took my kids away from me. They took me from my family, my friends and all of my fans. I have had all my emails and phone calls stolen and shared with government witnesses and God knows who else."
"I have gotten tuberculosis while being in here. I have gotten COVID twice while being in here. I have been diagnosed with diabetes while being in here. I have had two surgeries while being in here. I have gotten attacked while I was sleeping, and had my rib cracked and my jaw fractured while being in here."
"I have been diagnosed with PTSD while being in here. I wish they would just leave my music alone, because it is all I have left, it's all my fans have left. And they deserve to be able to listen to the music despite what people try and say about me, what they think about me or even do to me. So please, again, LEAVE MY MUSIC ALONE!!!"
January will see the broadcast by Lifetime of "Surviving R Kelly Part III: The Final Chapter" after the first part graphically detailed decades of alleged sexual assault, abuse, and misconduct by fallen "I Believe I Can Fly" R&B superstar Kelly.
