CHICAGO _ Embattled R&B star R. Kelly, facing sex abuse charges, is expected back in Cook County court Friday, when a judge may consider his request to fly by private jet to Dubai next month to perform at several concerts.
Kelly cannot find work anywhere in the United States because of a public backlash against him, his attorney Steven Greenberg has alleged in a court filing.
Kelly needs to perform overseas to pay off his mounting expenses, including child support, unpaid rent and legal fees, according to the defense filing.
Prosecutors have yet to publicly weigh in on the request.
Kelly, 52, was indicted last month on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving three underage girls and a woman over a dozen years, prosecutors allege.
As a condition of his release on $1 million bond, Kelly cannot leave Illinois without permission.
In his filing, Greenberg said Kelly does not pose a risk to flee if he is allowed to go to the United Arab Emirates. Kelly turned himself in after his indictment last month, Greenberg noted, and always appeared in Cook County court on child pornography charges he faced more than a decade ago. He was acquitted of those charges in 2008.
The hearing on Friday will be the first in Kelly's case in which cameras will be allowed in the courtroom to video-record and photograph the proceedings.
Judge Lawrence Flood, who is presiding over the high-profile case, gave the news media that access throughout Kelly's case. The judge barred images of two of the alleged sex abuse victims from being shown if they take the witness stand after they objected.
Typically, media organizations, including the Chicago Tribune, do not seek to publicly identify victims of sex abuse.
The criminal charges are only the latest in Kelly's mounting legal, financial and public relations battles.
A secretive dispute over unpaid child support put him in jail for three days until an anonymous donor came up with more than $161,000.
One of the alleged sex abuse victims has recently filed a Cook County lawsuit alleging Kelly began a sexual relationship with her when she was 16.
And city building inspectors earlier this year found multiple code violations at his Chicago studio _ a West Loop building he has since vacated. Court records show he owes the studio's landlord more than $173,000 in back rent and other fees.
In addition, a growing social media backlash was heightened when a Lifetime documentary series "Surviving R. Kelly" aired in January with accusations of sexually predatory and abusive behavior against him by multiple women.
The court filing Wednesday seeking permission to travel overseas said Kelly has been struggling financially as his reputation has come under increasing attack. Some streaming services have removed his songs, and his record company has canceled his contract, Greenberg said.
