R Kelly

R. Kelly is currently behind bars as he continues his trail after being accused of grooming and sexually abusing several minors. The disgraced singer has been in jail since July 2019, but despite his fame and the high-profile nature of his case, the singer is reportedly not granted any special accommodations.

Kelly has spent his time at two federal prisons, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and now the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. A recent report from Billboard details the singer’s stay, with his former lawyer Michael Leonard claiming he only leaves his small cell for two hours a day. “Kelly has spent the majority of his time in the Chicago lock-up, where Leonard says he is only allowed out of his 8×10, two-person cell for a few hours day to check his email, talk to his lawyers, make phone calls, shower and eat, with no access to the rooftop basketball court that is typically available during non-COVID times,” Leonard says. The lawyer added that “every once in a blue moon” Kelly sings for his fellow inmates “and the place would go crazy.”

Other than being granted additional access to his lawyers via video calls due to his “limitations with reading and writing,” Kelly “does not get any special accommodations,” according to attorney Stacey Richman. “He will get the same food as everyone else,” Richman said. “He, like everyone else, will have commissary money so he can access more foods and sundries.” Richman added that he could potentially get the chance to trade his autograph for more commissary items items, which includes boxes of Ramen noodles, tuna pouches, and packets of cookies.

Kelly continues to attend court where some of his accusers have testified about they abuse they’ve faced. Most recently, a male victim claimed Kelly sexually exploited him when he was just 17-years-old.

R. Kelly’s trial for criminal conspiracy and sex trafficking charges began last week. But there’s another issue that’s plaguing the troubled singer. According to Billboard, he’s on a mission to sell off his song catalog. He’s willing to “sell low” and hand off the catalog for anyone who’s willing to purchase it. The issue is that no one so far has stepped forward to buy it.

Earlier this month, R. Kelly’s lawyer Devereaux Cannick revealed that the singer is extremely short on cash, saying that his funds are “depleted.” Billboard estimates his catalog generates somewhere around $1.7 million per year, and while that might be a livable amount to some, a small portion of that amount actually falls into Kelly’s hands. Tack on his ongoing legal battles and the recent ones he’s lost, including a case that resulted in a woman winning $4 million after she sued him for sexually abusing her when she was 16, it’s clear to see why Kelly is in need of some cash.

However, it doesn’t seem like the price of his catalog won’t stop dropping anytime soon. The singer still has federal cases in New York and Illinois as well as state trials in Illinois and Minnesota, all of which could cause further damage to the catalog’s price.