R. Kelly received an additional sentence for his crimes of sexual abuse and other horrible acts in February, and the court granted priority access to his royalty fund to a victim of his actions. Moreover, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday (March 23) that Heather Williams will be the first person able to attain money from Kelly’s Sony Music royalty account. Furthermore, Billboard reported a value of $1.5 million for said fund in 2020. Not only that, but Williams got priority over Midwest Commercial Funding, a property manager that won a $3.5 million suit against the singer for unpaid rent for a Chicago studio.
Also in 2020, the victim in question successfully sued the R&B artist for $4 million in civil court, alleging that he lured her to his studio when she was 16. Instead of appearing in a music video as promised, he abused and had relations with her multiple times. In addition, said ruling from the state’s high court supports a lower jurisdiction’s view that Williams has priority because she properly filed a demand for the money before Midwest commercial. As such, the court ordered that she receive all the money in said fund and to keep receiving royalty payments until the judgment amount of $4 million is paid off.
Court Grants Victim Priority Access To R.Kelly’s Royalty Fund
Meanwhile, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean intends to overturn the judgement, as she claims he had no knowledge of it. “I’ve never in my career seen such a flouting of the rules to deny him even the opportunity to defend these civil cases, even when the courts were fully aware that Kelly was incarcerated, unrepresented at points, and facing multiple criminal indictments,” she stated. “Indeed, much of these civil proceedings occurred without Kelly’s knowledge.”
However, it’s unclear whether Williams will take priority over monetary payments the singer owes to victims in federal convictions. Regardless, his team has a lot to handle and to process following his sentences. After years of court proceedings, now the tough question is whether his victims truly receive fair and proper compensation. For their experiences, such a concept is nonexistent, but hopefully they face little roadblocks on the way to justice.
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