NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Judgment withdrawn after lawyers say R. Kelly can’t read

CHICAGO

R. Kelly spent much of Wednesday in court, with his lawyer explaining to one judge that the singer didn’t respond to a lawsuit brought by one of his sexual-abuse accusers because he is illiterate and with Kelly paying $62,000 in back child support during a second hearing.

At the first hearing, Judge Moira Johnson vacated a default judgment she made against Kelly after the singer failed to respond to a lawsuit brought by one of the four women he’s charged with sexually abusing. Johnson reinstated the lawsuit after one of Kelly’s attorneys explained that the singer was in jail when he was served with the lawsuit documents and that Kelly didn’t respond because he can’t read.

The second hearing, which pertained to child support, came weeks after the judge in that case ordered Kelly to jail after finding him in contempt of court for failing to pay $161,000 in back child support to his ex-wife, who is the mother of his three children. Kelly remained locked up for three days until he raised the back child support.

“He’s not a deadbeat dad,” Kelly’s attorney, Lisa Damico, told reporters after Wednesday’s hearing, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. “All he wants to do is do right by his kids.”

Britney Spears gets restraining order against former friend

LOS ANGELES

Britney Spears was granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday against a former confidante who she says has been harassing her family again.

A judge ordered 44-year-old Sam Lutfi, who has been in legal fights with the Spears family for a decade, to stay at least 200 yards from her, her parents and her two sons, who are 12 and 13.

The judge also ordered that he not contact or disparage anyone from the family.

The restraining order petition alleges Lutfi has been sending harassing and threatening texts to Spears’ family and disparaging them on social media.

“Mr. Lutfi’s actions have caused severe mental trauma at a time where Ms. Spears is recovering from stress related to her father’s health and her work,” the documents state. “Mr. Lutfi’s unjustified interference in her life ... threaten Ms. Spears’ safety and well-being.”

In January, Spears put her career on indefinite hiatus and delayed the start of a Las Vegas residency so she could focus on her ailing father.

Associated Press