R. Kelly Victims Win $10.5M Lawsuit For 'Surviving' Terror Threat

Victims Awarded $10.5 Million After R. Kelly & His Former Manager Threatened To “Shoot Up” A Screening Of Surviving R. Kelly

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R. Kelly reportedly continued to terrorize survivors of his abuse and the people making a docuseries about it. Now, the singer owes them millions of dollars more. TMZ reports six of his victims won a lawsuit against Kelly and his former manager, Donnell Russell, for calling in a terrorist threat to stop a Surviving R. Kelly screening.

In 2018, part of the docuseries was scheduled for an early screening at NeueHouse Madison Square in New York City. The first season of the docuseries aired in January 2019 on Lifetime. Several victims and their loved ones planned to attend the event until a call threatened their lives if they went forward with it.

According to Rolling Stone, a federal jury convicted Russell of threatening physical harm through interstate conversation last July. He called the theater, promising to “shoot up the place” if organizers didn’t shut down the screening.

“The call was short. The defendant was to the point. And he was terrifying. Someone at the event had a gun and was going to shoot up the place. He wanted to keep these women quiet and he succeeded. His threat worked,” Assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz explained in court.

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A conviction wasn’t enough for the additional trauma and harassment the Surviving R. Kelly team faced from the singer and his team. Before the mass shooting call, they claimed harassment and intimidation of the victims, producers, and A&E/Lifetime went on for more than six months. Russell started with legal threats in the form of a fake “cease and desist” letter. When that and running to the police didn’t work, Russell called in the mass shooting from his landline in Chicago.

The victims went on to sue Kelly and Russell, obviously working on his former client’s behalf. The ordeal caused the women, who already suffered horribly at Kelly’s hands, PTSD and panic attacks. A judge awarded each of the six women between $1.1 million and $2.25 million.

The convicted felon’s fans better get busy separating the art from the artist for some royalties. The court is making sure Kelly pays what he owes one way or another.