R Kelly‘s lawyers have claimed that their client is unable to read, citing this as the reason for why the musician recently failed to show up in court.

Kelly’s failure to respond to a lawsuit by Heather Williams, who accused him of sexual abuse when she was 16, led to her being granted victory in a civil case.

The singer’s lawyers Zaid Abdallah and Raed Shalabi have filed legal documents that claim Kelly’s inability to even understand the papers summoning him to court was the reason for his no show.


Abdallah and Shalabi said that Kelly “suffers from a learning disability that adversely affects his ability to read… in essence he cannot,” according to TMZ.

They also criticised the fact that Kelly was served papers for the Williams trial while he was already incarcerated for failure to pay child support.

Now, according to PageSix, although the judge vacated the lawsuit filed after Kelly initially ignored the summons due to his incarceration, she has since reinstated it upon having both him and his legal team present in court yesterday (May 8).

Kelly was also attending a hearing about unpaid child support payments. The singer has now reportedly paid $62k to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly.

“He’s not a deadbeat dad,” Kelly’s lawyer Lisa Damico told reporters after the hearing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. “All he wants to do is do right by his kids.”


The artists is still yet to face a criminal case, which contains allegations that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls and a woman.

They came only a month after Surviving R Kelly, a documentary which detailed allegations of extensive sexual abuse against the star. The allegations have surrounded Kelly for decades, but he has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.

According to the latest lawsuit, Kelly first met the woman when she was 16 and instigated a sexual relationship that lasted for over a year.

It was reported in April that Kelly only has $625 left to his name after the series of extensive legal battles.