The R&B star, 52, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, spent three days in jail and was released last night after posting $100,000 bail. After being freed from Cook Country Jail, Kelly stopped at McDonald’s in Chicago’s River North neighbourhood, the same branch of the fast food chain where he is alleged to have met with underage girls. In last year’s documentary, R Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes, his former studio manager James Lee said the star would pick up young women from the McDonald’s and bring them back to his studio.
“Going to McDonald’s to pick up chicks, that’s what a 17-year-old does,” Lee said in the BBC documentary.
According to Associated Press, Kelly stopped to sign an autograph on his trip to McDonald’s after being released.
One fan reportedly shouted “I love you! I love you!” as the singer got into his vehicle to leave.
He is said to have waved.
A 2002 lawsuit, which was settled out of court, claimed Kelly had picked up a female high school student at the same McDonald’s in 1998.
He was claimed to have impregnated the girl and then forced her to have an abortion.
After visiting the outlet, Kelly headed to a cigar lounge, where he was reportedly joined by two women who currently live with him, Jocelyn Savage and Azriel Clary, according to Chicago Sun-Times reported Nader Issa, who tweeted updates after the star was released from jail.
The women’s parents have previously claimed they are being held against their will.
Kelly has been charged with sexually abusing four women, including three underage girls, in instances dating back to 1998.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges, which were brought against him just weeks after documentary series Surviving R Kelly showed several women accusing him of abuse.
The court has ordered Kelly to surrender his passport and not to have contact with anyone under the age of 18.
He is set to appear in court on March 22 on the charges against him.
In a news conference yesterday, attorney Gloria Allred has said she is now representing six women who have made accusations about Kelly.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who is thought to be working with several individuals making accusations about Kelly, has claimed to have an unreleased video of the singer engaging in sexual acts with an underage girl.
At the time of his arrest last week, Kelly’s lawyer Steve Greenberg said the star was “extraordinarily disappointed and depressed” and maintained his innocence.
At the weekend, Greenberg said of his client: “He’s a rock star, he doesn’t have to have nonconsensual sex.”