R. Kelly rushed to hospital after overdosing in prison

vt-author-image

By James Kay

Article saved!Article saved!

R. Kelly has been rushed to the hospital after he reportedly overdosed in prison.

GettyImages-1129054434.jpgR. Kelly has been rushed to the hospital. Credit: Cook County Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images

According to a court filing from his attorney, Beau B. Brindley, the 57-year-old singer - born Robert Kelly - was rushed to Duke University Hospital last week after allegedly overdosing on medication administered by prison staff, per TMZ.

The emergency reportedly began on June 12, when a solitary confinement employee instructed Kelly to take extra doses of medication.

By the next morning, the Grammy winner-turned-convicted felon was feeling unwell and had to be hospitalized.

During his two-day hospital stay, Kelly says he was informed that the amount of medication he had been given could have been fatal.

But things didn’t end with his hospital admission.

GettyImages-1147563202.jpgThe filing claims that Kelly was overdosed by prison staff. Credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

The court filing claims that prison officials took Kelly off necessary blood thinner medication and are now refusing to allow him to undergo a doctor-recommended surgery to clear blood clots in his legs and lungs.

And in a dramatic twist, Kelly's lawyer alleges he was "forcibly" removed from Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, against medical advice.

The government isn’t buying it. Prosecutors immediately filed a fiery response, accusing Kelly of manipulating the court: “This is the behavior of an abuser and a master manipulator on display.”


They also slammed him for trying to sway a court that “has no jurisdiction over his case,” and mocked his tactics: “He is ‘cold’ in prison, and [wants] to criticize the medical care that he is receiving” in order to turn his situation “into a grocery store checkout aisle tabloid.”

As if that weren’t enough, this filing follows another shocking allegation: a supposed murder-for-hire plot targeting Kelly in prison.

His legal team submitted a sworn statement from Mikeal Glenn Stine, an Aryan Brotherhood gang leader, who claims he was offered early release in exchange for killing Kelly.

According to the document, Stine initially agreed - but later backed out and warned Kelly. Kelly now says another Aryan Brotherhood member has been tapped to kill both him and Stine.

R. Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking, stemming from a 2021 conviction that ended years of accusations involving underage girls and coercion.

GettyImages-1168903008.jpgR. Kelly's lawyer claims that prison staff are to blame. Credit: Antonio Perez - Pool / Getty Images.

For decades, the artist had dodged accountability despite mounting allegations involving young women and underage children.

A jury of seven men and five women ultimately found him guilty, with the prosecution arguing that his team of managers and aides who enabled and concealed his abuse essentially formed a criminal enterprise.

Despite a last-ditch attempt by Kelly's legal team to get a retrial - arguing his previous defense was ineffective and that the prosecution "misused" the racketeering charge - a judge shut the motion down.

Featured image credit: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images