It was a day of partial wins and continued Ls for disgraced singer R. Kelly Wednesday.
By order of a court in Chicago, Kelly’s lawyer handed over a $62,000 check to Kelly’s ex-wife, Andrea, to bring Kelly’s child support payments up to date, the Associated Press reports, while in a different Chicago courtroom, Kelly was granted the right to fight another day on the civil sex assault case he faces on top of 10 criminal charges of aggravated sex abuse.
Kelly was put in jail in the child support case after a judge found he owed more than $161,000. He was released a few days later after coming up with the cash.
But while he was in lockup, he was served papers in the civil sex assault lawsuit, and when he didn’t show up to answer the suit, a judge entered a default judgment against him.
Kelly vowed to fight the judgment, and his lawyers later said their client didn’t show up for the civil case because Kelly can’t read.
Cook County Judge Moira Johnson on Wednesday reinstated the lawsuit.
But if R. Kelly thinks he can keep all his dirt in the dark, the judge in the ongoing child support proceedings Wednesday ruled against his request to keep that courtroom closed to media and the public.
“I do believe when a record is sealed in this way … there’s a constant harm to the public,” Judge Lori Rosen said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The attorney for R. Kelly’s ex-wife said a public spotlight on the proceedings will pressure the singer to make his child support payments on time from now on.
The $62,500 provided Wednesday covered March, April and May. Kelly’s attorneys said he plans to pay for June and July in advance.
The court — and the world — will see.