R. Kelly reportedly misses court date due to emergency hernia surgery

R Kelly has missed a court appearance this week to undergo an operation, according to reports.

According to TMZ, The I Believe I Can Fly singer had emergency surgery after suffering a hernia.

A hernia is when an organ or fatty tissue squeezes through a weak spot in a surrounding muscle or connective tissue, and is often extremely painful.

According to the publication, the 53-year-old is already out of hospital, where he wasn’t allowed to receive any visitors.

The star is currently in Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago awaiting trial.

Among multiple charges Kelly is facing, the latest is for bribery related to his 1994 marriage to the late singer Aaliyah.

Prosecutors allege Kelly bribed an Illinois government official into providing a then-15-year-old Aaliyah – named in documents as Jane Doe – with a fake ID listing her age as 18 so they could marry without parental consent.

The bribery accusation expands on an existing racketeering indictment against Kelly, accusing him of sexual exploiting underage girls and coercing them into illegal sexual activity, the New York Times reported last month.

Kelly has denied the claims.