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R. Kelly’s attorney slams judge’s curfew ruling and likens singer to Beethoven who ‘wrote during the night’

Posted at 9:55 PM, Feb 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-20 23:55:18-05

R. Kelly’s attorney is sounding off after a judge put a curfew on the use of R&B singer’s Chicago recording studio due to allegations of multiple building code violations.

In January, Judge Patrice Ball-Reed ordered the second floor of Kelly’s studio — which was being used as a bedroom — closed because it posed fire hazards. The judge also limited Kelly’s use of the building to 12 hours a day between 9 a.m. and 9p.m.

The area is zoned only for commercial use, not residential.

Steve Greenberg, Kelly’s attorney, posted a statement on Twitter Wednesday comparing Kelly to Beethoven and other musicians, writers and inventors — including Leo Tolstoy, Sigmund Freud and F. Scott Fitzgerald — who “worked and wrote during the night.” Greenberg said the judge’s curfew interfered with his client’s creativity.

“Robert Kelly has been ordered by a judge to not to be creative between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.,” Greenberg wrote.

Greenberg said Kelly will be moving out of the studio.

Last month, Kelly risked eviction from the same Chicago studio because of more than $166,000 in unpaid rent.

Court documents show an eviction order signed by a judge in January said Kelly must move out on or before January 21. The process of eviction began in July 2018 when the landlord, Midwest Commercial Funding LLC, said Kelly defaulted on the lease by initially failing to pay rent of more than $79,000. The back rent kept piling up and finally a judge signed off on an eviction.

The singer also is facing a new allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor.

Attorney Michael Avenatti announced last week that he had handed over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office a videotape that he says shows Kelly engaging in sex acts with an underage girl.

A grand jury has been convened in Cook County, Illinois, in connection with the new allegation, according to two sources close to the case.