Music icon R. Kelly has been taken to hospital after ‘overdosing’ in prison, with the rapper’s legal team alleging that prison staff may be to blame.

A court filing submitted by his attorney, Beau B. Brindley, claims R. Kelly was left bedridden in a hospital after a solitary confinement employee instructed him to take additional medication the night of June 12, according to TMZ.

R. Kelly was later transferred to Duke University Hospital the next morning after he reported feeling unwell.

In the filing, the R. Kelly alleges that prison staff also took him off necessary blood thinner medication and refusing to allow him a doctor-recommend surgery to clear blood clots in his legs and lungs.

R. Kelly, 57, legally known as Robert Kelly, was jailed in June 2022 for racketeering and sex trafficking after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility over misconduct allegations involving young women and children.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of creating a scheme to entice and sexually exploit young aspiring singers and underage children.

A jury comprised of seven men and five women had previously found Kelly guilty of racketeering, charges based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls – and keep them obedient and quiet – amounting to a criminal enterprise.