The disgraced I Believe I Can Fly singer - who was found guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation of children, kidnapping, and forced labour in 2021 - is not seeking a full pardon but wants his prison term reduced after making a "random" request for clemency.
The request is currently listed online as a matter that is pending with the White House Office of the Pardon Attorney but any supporting documents he submitted have not been made public.
A White House official told Rolling Stone: "This appears to be a random submission through the public portal which anyone can submit an application through.
"The submission of a pardon request should not be interpreted to mean anything other than an individual has chosen to submit a request. The team that reviews clemency requests at the White House is not tracking this request at this time.
"The White House has a thorough review process for all clemency requests, with the President being the ultimate decider."
In June 2025, a lawyer for the 59-year-old singer - whose real name is Robert Kelly - filed a motion for a new trial which also sought his client's immediate release on bond due to health concerns and an alleged plot against his life from .
His lawyer, Beau B Brindley claimed Kelly had been denied treatment for dangerous blood clots in his lungs and alleged an "avowed white supremacist" had said prison officials recruited him to harm the singer.
He said in a news conference at the time: "R Kelly does not have the time, with his life in danger, to go through the normal channels.
"I will ask President Trump to help us, because we need him."
He later alleged the treatment of the Trapped in the Closet star had worsened after the motion was made public.
He told People magazine: "Immediately after our motion became public, Robert was thrown into solitary confinement.
"He cannot make phone calls to his family. He has no access to commissary. He has spiders crawling over him while he tries to sleep."
The emergency motion included a declaration from inmate Mikeal Glenn Stine, who alleged he was asked to kill Kelly by three high-ranking Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials.
Stine, who claims membership in the Aryan Brotherhood and says he was once a commissioner with the group, states prison officials arranged his transfer to the Federal Correctional Institution Butner in North Carolina and placed him in Kelly's unit.
In return for carrying out or arranging the murder, Stine alleges he was promised an escape from custody and the chance to live as a "free man".
Stine also claimed he has terminal cancer and later told Kelly about the plot, saying he no longer intended to go through with it.
A federal judge in Chicago still hasn't ruled on Kelly's motion for a new trial, but his request for bond was denied.
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