R. Kelly‘s monthly child support payments to his ex-wife, Andrea, will remain at $21,000 following a ruling Wednesday from a Chicago Cook County judge, according to CBS Chicago.
The singer appeared in court just one week after being arrested on charges of failing to pay approximately $161,000 in back child support.
Kelly sought to have the amount reduced because he is unable to work following the new sex abuse scandals that surfaced after Lifetime aired the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, which featured women detailing alleged sexual and physical abuse inflicted by the three-time Grammy winner.
“R. Kelly child support case continued to a hearing date in May,” tweeted reporter Megan Hickey. “No change in his child support payments.”
Andrea was one of the accusers featured in the dream hampton-produced docuseries. She and Kelly married in 1996 and they have three children together. Following their 2009 divorce, the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer/songwriter was ordered to pay the more than $20,000 in child support. He stopped making payments in spring 2018.
The 52-year-old sat down with CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King last week to speak about the allegations and revealed that he has only $350,000 in the bank. In the emotional interview, Kelly said that the allegations against him have limited his access to his children.
He also said he could not tour or earn money from music after being dropped from his label and having his music pulled from radio and streaming services.
“If you can’t play a show, if you can’t go out on tour, if they’re not streaming your music anymore, obviously you’re going to have financial problems. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out,” Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg told the news outlet.
Darryll Johnson, the disgraced singer’s publicist, spoke to the media after the closed hearing and said Kelly does not have assets to sell. He also clarified that it was a pool of “family and friends” that scraped together the $161,000 for the overdue payment.
The alleged abuse goes back more than 20 years. After the airing of the riveting docuseries, Kelly was charged on Feb. 22 with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, three of whom were underage girls.
The R&B singer was placed on $100,000 bond, which was paid by Valencia Love, a woman Kelly met on a cruise five months ago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and is due back in court on March 22.
