R. Kelly was rushed to hospital after suffering an overdose in prison, according to newly filed court documents.
The 58-year-old singer, known for hits such as I Believe I Can Fly and Ignition, is currently serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex trafficking.
He is said to have collapsed at the Federal Correctional Institute in Butner, North Carolina, last Friday and was then rushed to Duke University Hospital for urgent treatment.
Legal filings claim Kelly - Robert Sylvester Kelly - became faint and dizzy after being prescribed multiple medications by prison staff, including anxiety medication.
According to the documents, the Grammy Award-winning artist blacked out and saw “black spots in his vision” before losing consciousness.
In the ambulance, Kelly allegedly overheard a guard say: “This is going to open a whole new can of worms.”
The filings, submitted by Kelly’s attorney Beau B. Brindley, argue that he had been placed in solitary confinement on June 10 and given medication by staff before suffering the medical episode three days later.
His legal team claim he was “over-medicated” by officials and suggest the overdose was avoidable.
The incident follows an emergency motion filed by Kelly’s lawyers, in which they allege he is the target of a murder-for-hire plot involving prison officials and another inmate.
In the motion, the disgraced singer’s legal team submitted a sworn statement from a fellow inmate, Mikeal Glenn Stine, who claims to be the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood.
Stine alleges that prison staff offered him early release in exchange for killing Kelly, with plans to transfer him to another facility and stage an escape.
He claims he was moments away from carrying out the plan in March but ultimately decided not to go through with it. Stine is described in the motion as terminally ill and has reportedly since chosen to come forward with the details of the plot.
No formal charges or investigations related to the murder plot allegations have been confirmed. Kelly was convicted in New York in 2021 and is also facing separate legal proceedings in Chicago.
The Standard has contacted R. Kelly’s rep for comment.
