R Kelly failed to respond to a lawsuit brought by one of his sexual abuse accusers because he cannot read, a lawyer for the singer has told a judge.
Judge Moira Johnson vacated a default judgment she made against Kelly after the R&B singer failed to respond to a lawsuit brought by one of the four women he is charged with abusing.
She reinstated the lawsuit after one of Kelly's lawyers explained that the singer was in jail when he was served with the lawsuit documents and that Kelly did not respond because he cannot read.
Kelly's bookings for performances began drying up following the airing of a television documentary, Surviving R Kelly.
This was weeks before his February arrest on charges accusing him of sexually abusing a woman and three girls over roughly a 10-year period starting in the late 1990s.
But on Tuesday, one his lawyers told reporters that he was lining up performances for the Grammy award-winning R&B singer in Illinois and outside the state, and that he anticipated the judge approving requests to travel to make those appearances.
Kelly has pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charges and denied any wrongdoing.
Agencies contributed to this report
