Prosecutors Say R. Kelly Employee Bribed an Official After ‘Surviving R. Kelly’

New York prosecutors say an alleged “crisis manager” of R. Kelly bribed a Cook County, Illinois, clerk with $2,500 to obtain inside information on the rapper’s legal situation after the Lifetime documentary Surviving R. Kelly came out. The finding was revealed in court documents Friday in which prosecutors asked to bring up multiple uncharged crimes at trial next month to help establish a motive for his alleged behavior. The most prominent example, according to court documents, is marrying the late singer Aaliyah so she could not testify against him.

In the filing, federal prosecutors provided different documentation to support their claims, including an audio recording reportedly obtained from R. Kelly‘s phone between him and the alleged crisis manager. In it, the crisis manager said he knew people who could tip them off on Kelly’s charges if he could “figure out what you could do for them.” Kelly allegedly responded, “What you do, man, is write something on a piece of paper and give me what I should tip the bailiff. What I should tip the, uh, the valet.” The crisis manager is said to have later admitted to paying the clerk $2,500 and supplying them with a burner phone to inform them of any potential charges.