R. Kelly Gets Child Support Reduction Request Denied

This morning (Mar. 13), singer-songwriter R. Kelly had a child support hearing to reduce his child support payments, and his request was denied. 

Fans of the "I Believe I Can Fly" singer chanted him on and shared their words of support as the singer, who is currently facing 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges, arrived at his 9:30 a.m. CT child support case hearing in his hometown of Chicago.

CBS Chicago's Megan Hickey shared a video of the singer arriving at court on her Twitter page.

R. Kelly's publicist stated that the singer can't afford his current child support payments because he is "not working."

Last week, the singer spent three nights in Cook County Jail after failing to comply with a court order to pay more than $161,000 in back child support. On Mar. 9, the R&B star was released from jail after his friends and family paid the money for him.

Today, the singer attempted to have his $21,000 monthly child support payments reduced, according to CBS Chicago.

“If you can’t play a show, if you can’t go out on tour, if they’re not streaming your music anymore, obviously you’re going to have financial problems. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out,” Kelly's attorney, Steve Greenberg said.

“He’s recording every day. He has a studio in his home, so he’s always recording,” Kelly's publicist, Darryll Johnson said. “All he does is sing; sing and record all day, and when he’s not doing that, he’s shooting basketball.”

Johnson said that the singer's child support payments don't make sense because R. Kelly's two oldest children are 20 and 21, and his youngest child is 17, soon to be 18.

The terms of the "Ignition" singer's 2009 divorce requires that Kelly pays almost $21,000 a month in child support, but Kelly stopped making his required payments last spring. The back child support payments accumulated causing Kelly to owe more than $190,000, which resulted in a judge ordering him to pay the majority of it by last Wednesday (Mar. 6).

Kelly's child support case has been continued to a hearing date on May 8.

Yesterday (Mar. 12), Chicago police arrived at the singer's home at Trump Tower because a report was made that four women, who may have been victims of human trafficking, were in Kelly's apartment; another report was made that the singer had tried to commit suicide, according to CBS Chicago.

“Neither were true. The police came. They wanted to come in. We did not let them in. They did their report, and they left. That’s pretty much it,” Johnson said.

Glennisha Morgan is a Detroit-bred multimedia journalist and writer. She writes about intersectionality, hip-hop, pop culture, queer issues, race, feminism, and her truth. Follow her on Twitter @GlennishaMorgan