Six victims of R. Kelly are pursuing legal action to recover nearly $10 million in unpaid damages from a 2022 judgment. The victims, who appeared in the Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly," have only received about $500,000 of the $10.3 million awarded to them.

Photo Credit: R. Kelly at Groovin in the Park 2017 by comechatwitmi / CC by 3.0

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, names multiple defendants:

• R. Kelly (currently incarcerated)
• Donnell Russell (his former manager, also imprisoned)
• Universal Music
• Universal Music-Z Tunes
• IndyBuild (Chicago-based revenue sharing platform)

The judgment breakdown includes:

• $5.1 million in compensatory damages
• $4.5 million in punitive damages
• $2,450.30 daily interest

Court documents indicate that despite Universal Music ending their co-publishing agreement with Kelly in 2019, they remain obligated to collect and remit music publishing royalties, which the victims argue should be directed to them.

Kelly is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence at Butner Federal Prison in North Carolina following his 2022 conviction on charges including sex trafficking, racketeering based on sexual exploitation of children, and producing child pornography.

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