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Disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly, currently serving a 30-year sentence for federal racketeering and sex trafficking convictions, was hospitalized after he overdosed in prison.
“In the early morning hours of June 13, 2025, Mr. Kelly awoke. He felt faint. He was dizzy. He started to see black spots in his vision. Mr. Kelly tried to get up, but fell to the ground. He crawled to the door of the cell and lost consciousness. He was placed on a gurney,” according to a filing from his attorney and obtained by Fox News Digital.
“At the hospital, Mr. Kelly learned that he had been administered an overdose quantity of his medications that threatened his life. He required hospitalization for two days to treat it.”
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R. Kelly appeared during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Sept. 17, 2019 in Chicago. (Antonio Perez – Pool via Getty Images)
The “Ignition” singer’s attorney alleged that prison staff administered a dangerously high dose of his medication, leading to the overdose. Kelly, 58, normally takes medication for anxiety and sleep medication, the document read.
Kelly’s attorney had recently filed for temporary furlough, which would allow him to leave prison for a limited time under specific conditions.
In the filing, his attorney alleges that “within two days of the filing of his motion, Bureau of Prisons officials administered an amount of medication that significantly exceeded a safe dose and caused Mr. Kelly to overdose, putting his life in jeopardy. They gave him an amount of medicine that could have killed him.”
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Disgraced singer R. Kelly overdosed in prison after allegedly receiving excessive medication, requiring two days of hospitalization. (Photo by Antonio Perez – Pool via Getty Images)
According to his lawyers, “administering an overdose quantity of medication to Mr. Kelly just days after his exposure of a Bureau of Prisons plot to kill him is not the end of the B.O.P. actions that put his life in jeopardy.”
The filing claimed, “it actually gets much worse.”
His legal team said Kelly had complained for months about a swollen leg — an issue that was especially concerning due to his prior history with blood clots. He reportedly sought medical attention repeatedly but was provided with limited or delayed care.
Earlier this year, Kelly was allegedly supposed to undergo a scan to detect blood clots, but, “He was then told by prison medical staff that they were only authorized to advise him that he would no longer be receiving blood thinners,” the document stated.
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In this handout provided by the Chicago Police Department, Robert Kelly, professionally known as R. Kelly, poses for a mugshot after his arrest on Feb. 22, 2019 in Chicago. Kelly was arrested on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. (Chicago Police Department via Getty Images)
“He was taken off of blood thinners at that time.”
The attorneys claimed that decision happened within the past three months and put their client at serious risk of medical complications.
The filing also claimed, “Mr. Kelly was on the phone with the undersigned today in tears, afraid that they will kill him or let him die…It is useful to juxtapose the declaration of Mikeal Stine with the conduct of the Bureau of Prisons officials since that declaration became public. He exposed what he indicated was a Bureau of Prisons plot to kill Mr. Kelly in order to cover up crimes committed by D.O.J. and Bureau of Prisons officials during the investigation of his cases.”
After his recent hospitalization, Kelly was forcibly removed from Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, despite doctors advising against it, according to the filing.
When Fox News Digital reached out to the Bureau of Prisons, their team declined to comment, stating, “For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual, including medical and health-related issues.”
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Reps for Kelly did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the singer has been incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, since 2022. (Associated Press)
Born Robert Sylvester Kelly, the singer has been incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, since 2022.
In June 2022, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York after being convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. In February 2023, the rapper was sentenced in Chicago to an additional 20 years in prison on charges of child pornography and enticement of minors for sex. Kelly will serve all but one of those years concurrently and will likely be eligible for parole at age 80.
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Kelly, who has vehemently denied the allegations, rose from poverty in Chicago to become one of the world’s biggest R&B stars. Known for his smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly” and for sex-infused songs such as “Bump n’ Grind,” he sold millions of albums even after allegations about his abuse of girls began circulating publicly in the 1990s.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
