R Kelly: Singer released from US jail after 'someone' pays $161,000 overdue child support

Kelly was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt under a bright red winter coat when he walked out of the jail at 26th Street and California Avenue with defense attorney Steve Greenberg just before noon, about an hour after he was able to put together the hefty sum of money. Kelly’s latest three-night stay in jail came after a judge ordered him locked up for skipping out on what his ex-wife said was more than eight months of support payments for his three children. The singer previously spent three nights in jail two weeks ago after he was unable to post bond after being charged in four sex abuse cases. Kelly’s bond was posted by a Romeoville woman who became friends with the singer after meeting him on Lake Michigan cruise, according Kelly’s close friend Don Russell. Kelly was jailed Wednesday on a civil contempt charge after a hearing in domestic relations court, where he had been ordered to pay $161,663 by a judge presiding over his divorce case. Kelly’s publicist said then that the singer had $60,000, but the judge insisted Kelly pay the full amount he owed to avoid jail. Kelly and dancer Andrea Kelly divorced in 2009 and he is supposed to make payments of $20,000 per month, as well as educational expenses for his children, who are ages 16, 18, and 20. In an emotional, and occasionally volatile, interview with Gayle King of CBS earlier this week, the singer said he had $350,000 in a bank account but had been unable to access the money after he was taken to jail on the sex abuse charges. Kelly has said that despite the millions of records he has sold during his decades-long career, his income tanked since the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary series aired in January. An interview with Andrea Kelly is prominently featured in “Surviving R. Kelly,” and the dancer also has produced her own video about her marriage to the singer. The star’s record label dropped him in January, and a #muteRKelly online campaign has led to online streaming services pulling his music out of playlists that could generate royalties. Kelly moved out of his West Town recording studio ahead of an eviction order. A judge ordered the singer to pay $175,000 in back rent, fees and costs to his landlord, who had filed the eviction suit in July.]]>