R. Kelly could be headed back to court for alleged assault

By M&C News Oct 5, 2006, 14:51 GMT

R&B singer R. Kelly is no stranger to legal problems, but now Kelly looks like he could be headed back to court for a lawsuit filed by Henry “Love” Vaughn – who claims to Kelly assaulted him and failed to pay him for his part in a song idea.

Vaughn (who claims to be a mentor to the singer who he has worked with since Kelly was a teen) filed the suit in February stating that he was assaulted by Kelly after visiting the singer at his Olympia Fields home to watch a basketball game.

The suit states that Vaughn claims that one of the singer’s employees were "verbally abusive" to him, and then Kelly (with the help of others) dragged him to the basement. Once in the basement, Vaughn claims he was held against his will and attacked. The alleged assault was investigated by the Olympia Fields police, but no charges were ever filed.

In the lawsuit, Vaughn also claims that Kelly’s song "Step in the Name of Love" was originally his idea, and that Kelly failed to deliver on a promise to pay Vaughn half of the song’s royalities.

Kelly’s representative described the lawsuit as a means to extort money from Kelly and in a statement claimed Vaughn was a "disgruntled former employee and hanger-on." The statement further said “his lawsuit is a pathetic collection of half-truths, distortions, and outright lies," the statement says.