R. Kelly’s mugshot from 2003, as captured by the Miami Police Department. Back in July, R. Kelly petitioned the Supreme Court to toss a portion of his sex crime convictions. Now, a little over two months later, the nation’s highest court has rejected the appeal.
The Supreme Court has recently rejected the certiorari petition of the infamous singer, along with several others. As we previously mentioned, R. Kelly is currently serving multiple sentences.
He received a 30-year prison term for his involvement in a federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial in New York. Additionally, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for federal child sex abuse charges in Chicago in 2022.
This Supreme Court appeal focused on the latter, which arose from a conviction under the PROTECT Act of 2003. This federal law extended the statute of limitations for child abuse.
However, the defendant’s alleged crimes took place in the 1990s, before the enactment of the PROTECT Act. As a result, his lawyers contended that the charges were brought after the relevant statute of limitations had expired.
The Supreme Court has clearly indicated its reluctance to review the statute of limitations question in this case. Although the rejection does not provide detailed reasons for the decision, it appears to signal the conclusion of the efforts to petition for a review of the R. Kelly crimes trial in Chicago.
Despite the verdict, the story is far from over. In August, a New York judge made a significant decision, ordering Universal Music Publishing Group to directly allocate approximately $500,000 of R. Kelly’s royalties to his victims.
It is worth noting that R. Kelly’s music continues to be available on platforms like Spotify, where he still garners nearly five million monthly listeners. This is despite the gravity of the charges against him.
In more recent news, Andrea Kelly, who is the ex-wife of R. Kelly, made an announcement over the weekend about her newly written book called “Under the Red Carpet.”
This tell-all book is set to be released in late December and according to Andrea, it will have a liberating effect on many individuals. The trailer for the book project notably includes various clips and photos of Diddy as well.
In a powerful statement, Andrea, who was married to R. Kelly from 1996 to 2009 but continues to use his last name, expressed her frustration with people who have made assumptions and judgments about her without truly knowing her.
At 50 years old, she has endured years of people speaking about her life without any firsthand knowledge or meaningful conversations. Andrea finds it incredulous that people can confidently speak about someone they have never met or engaged with, treating their words as facts.
However, she has reached a point where she is no longer willing to suppress her true feelings and put on a smile to mask her pain. Andrea is determined to break free from the expectation to please a world that can be unforgiving and instead speak her truth without fear.