Six women who appeared in the Surviving R. Kelly series on Lifetime have been awarded $10.5 million after the singer and his former manager made shooting threats that shut down a 2018 screening.
Donnell Russell, 45, called an employee of NeueHouse theater in Madison Square on Dec. 4, 2018. Russell told the theater that there was a person in the building with a gun prepared to shoot up the screening.
“As alleged, Donnell Russell used threats of violence to stop a screening of a docuseries devoted to exploring allegations of sexual abuse against women and minor girls by the recording artist R. Kelly. By allegedly threatening a shooting at the theater, Russell prevented the screening, which was attended by a number of R. Kelly’s alleged victims,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement back in 2020.
“Threats of gun violence aimed at intimidating and silencing victims of sexual abuse are unlawful as well as unacceptable. We are committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting such crimes.”
Page Six says the six women should be awarded between $1.1 million to $2.25 million each.
