Cash-strapped R. Kelly asked a judge Wednesday to let him travel to the Middle East to perform several concerts, according to a new court filing that said he has struggled to get work in the U.S. since his February arrest on sex abuse charges.
The R&B singer hopes to do up to five concerts next month in Dubai, according to a motion filed in Cook County Circuit Court. It doesn't specify venues or how much Kelly could earn from the concerts, which the filing contends were arranged prior to Kelly's arrest.
Kelly, 52, also plans to meet members of royal families in the United Arab Emirates, the filing said.
The motion said Kelly is scrambling to pay child support, legal fees and everyday expenses because of the cancellation of Illinois concerts and a record contract, as well as the removal of his songs from streaming services.
"He cannot work, and consequently cannot make a living if he is confined to Illinois, or even the United States," according to the five-page court document. "Mr. Kelly needs to generate income."
A judge could rule on the travel request at a Friday pretrial hearing.
Wednesday's filing also criticized Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, accusing her of using the case "to thrust herself into the spotlight of the #metoo movement" and to boost her nationwide profile.
A Foxx spokeswoman said prosecutors would respond to the defense filing at the Friday hearing but declined further comment.
Kelly grew up in a Chicago public housing project and went on to become an internationally-acclaimed singer. But amid abuse allegations, music industry executives and fans have started keeping their distance. Lawsuits and tax issues have also hurt him financially.
Kelly was charged Feb. 22 with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse for allegedly assaulting three underage girls and one adult woman. He has denied ever abusing anyone.
Defense lawyer Steve Greenberg joked to a judge the next day at a bond hearing that, "Contrary to the song, Mr. Kelly doesn't like to fly" — a reference to the singer's hit "I Believe I Can Fly."
But Wednesday's filing said that for a worldwide star like Kelly, travel is essential.
It took the Grammy winner days after his arrest to raise the $100,000 required on $1 million bond to win release. In a separate case earlier this month, Kelly was briefly jailed again until he paid $160,000 in back child support.
Among the bond conditions in his sex abuse case was that he surrender his passport and that he not travel outside Illinois without the judge's permission.
Wednesday's filing argued Kelly is no flight risk, noting how he was permitted to travel before his 2008 child pornography trial and always appeared for pretrial hearings. Jurors later acquitted him on all counts.
The United Arab Emirates does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. but the Persian Gulf nation would never jeopardize its good bilateral relationship by harboring a fugitive Kelly, the filing said.
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Check out the AP's complete coverage of the investigations into R. Kelly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed gross human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza began six months ago, but it will hold off on any decision about aid to the battalion while it reviews new information provided by Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The undated letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, defers a decision by the U.S. whether to impose a first-ever block on U.S. aid to an Israeli military unit over its treatment of Palestinians. Israeli leaders, anticipating the U.S. decision this week, have angrily protested any such aid restrictions.
Blinken stressed that U.S. military support for Israel’s defense against Hamas and other threats would not be affected by the State Department's final decision on the one unit. Johnson muscled through legislation providing $26 billion in additional funds for Israel's defense and for relief of the growing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
The U.S. declaration concerns a single Israeli unit and its actions against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank before Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza began in October. While the unit is not identified in Blinken's letter, it is believed to be the Netzah Yehuda, which has historically been based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The unit and some of its members have been linked to abuses of civilians in the Palestinian territory, including the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian American man after his detention by the battalion's forces in 2022.
Blinken said the Israeli government has so far not adequately addressed the abuses by the military unit. But "the Israeli government has presented new information regarding the status of the unit and we will engage on identifying a path to effective remediation for this unit,” he wrote.
A 1997 act known as the Leahy law obligates the U.S. to cut off military aid to a foreign army unit that it deems has committed grave violations of international law or human rights. But the law allows a waiver if the military has held the offenders responsible and acted to reform the unit.
The Leahy law has never been invoked against close ally Israel.
The U.S. review comes as protests and counterprotests over American military aid for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza are roiling U.S. college campuses as well as election-year politics at home and relations abroad.
Lee contributed from Beijing.
FILE - Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference, April 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. In a letter from Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson obtained by the Associated Press Friday, April 26, Blinken says the U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed gross human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza began six months ago. But he says the U.S. will hold off on any decision about aid to the battalion while it reviews new information provided by Israel. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File)
Mother of Palestinian Shadi Jalaita, 44, cries upon the arrival of her son's body at the family house for the last look during his funeral in the West Bank city of Jericho Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man early Tuesday in the West Bank city of Jericho, an eyewitness and Palestinian officials said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said he suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in China, Friday, April 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
