R. Kelly has pleaded not guilty to allegations of bribery.
The disgraced ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ singer – who is currently awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges – was hit by the new claims earlier this month, which alleged he had bribed an unnamed government official in 1994 so he could obtain a fake ID for singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time, so they could get married.
However, when Kelly appeared via a video link from a Chicago courtroom on Wednesday (18.12.19), he denied the allegation.
And Douglas Anton, an attorney who represented the singer in court, argued the ‘Ignition’ hitmaker – who struggles with reading and writing – would not know how to get a fake ID, even if given $1 million and a month to complete the task.
He said: "He’d come back and say, ‘I have no idea how to do that.’ "
According to the lawyer, Kelly has been working on new music, which he has been humming and singing to his visitors in prison, but despite his situation, the tunes aren’t just "sour notes".
He told the New York Post newspaper: "It’s completely uplifting stuff about not just his journey through the system, but man and woman’s journey through life."
Kelly was accused of bribing an official to obtain the "creation of a fraudulent identification document Jane Doe #1" and the date cited is one day before he wed the singer, who was just 15 at the time, on 31 August, 1994.
The couple’s marriage was later annulled after her parents discovered what had happened and Aaliyah – who died in a plane crash aged 22 – eventually left Kelly’s record label, Jive Records, to sign with Atlantic.
t has previously been claimed that Aaliyah was paid $100 in exchange for promising never to take legal action for "emotional distress caused by any aspect of her business or personal relationship with Robert" or for "physical injury or emotional pain and suffering arising from any assault or battery perpetrated by Robert against her person."
Kelly – who has previously denied all the allegations against him – has refused to ever speak in detail about his relationship with the late star out of "respect" for her.
He said in 2016: "I will never have that conversation with anyone. Out of respect for Aaliyah, and her mother and father who has asked me not to personally. But I can tell you I loved her, I can tell you she loved me, we was very close. We were, you know, best best best best friends."
R Kelly pleads not guilty to bribery
