R. Kelly is evacuating his Chicago recording studio after a judge barred him from working in the space overnight, which his lawyers say are his most prolific hours.
Attorney Steve Greenberg accused Cook County Judge Patrice Ball-Reed of hindering the disgraced R&B star’s creative process by ordering him to not “be creative between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.” due to building-code violations.
Among the violations cited by inspectors was evidence that the space was used as a residence, per the claims made in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries. In the series, families of Kelly’s alleged victims believed the women were living at the studio against their will.
The judge recently refused Kelly’s request to work longer into the night at the studio, which is part of an industrial warehouse building on Chicago’s West Side.
Related: ANOTHER R. Kelly Sex Tape With An Underage Girl?
In his response on Wednesday, Greenberg called the judge’s order a “vindictive and baseless reaction to unsubstantiated claims of decades-old misconduct,” maintaining that some are jumping to conclusions prematurely.
He also insisted that the night time is Kelly’s best time to be creative, comparing the accused sex cult ringmaster to geniuses like Ludwig van Beethoven, Winston Churchill, Sigmund Freud and John Lennon — all of whom did their best work overnight. The statement read:
“R. Kelly can never be creative and do his job under these circumstances… John Lennon spent 24 hours a day in bed while recording.”
Kelly’s penchant for late night recording is no secret.
Mathew Knowles recently recalled prohibiting Destiny’s Child from working with the Grammy winner because he “liked to record late at night, around midnight. And what was different with his studio was that one room had a recording suite, and next door was a club, with 40 or 50 people dancing.”
Who knew Beethoven was bumping and grinding while he composed Ode To Joy?
[Image via WENN]