By Chris Richburg
Hours after news broke concerning a new lawsuit against Grammy-winning hitmaker R. Kelly, the singer has fired back via his spokesperson.
The suit, which was filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court by R&B crooner Ne-Yo, is the latest development in the aftermath of Ne-Yo’s short stint on Kelly’s Double Up tour.
According to reports, Ne-Yo cited better crowd reaction for him among concert goers instead of Kelly as the reason why he was dropped from the Double Up tour after two performances and paid $50,000.
Kelly’s spokesperson, Allan Mayer, disputed Ne-Yo’s claims as he maintained that Ne-Yo’s departure was due to contractual reasons and not related to professional jealousy.
"The idea that R. Kelly had anything to do with Ne-Yo being dropped from the Double Up tour is just plain silly. As we said at the time, Ne-Yo was dropped because of a contractual dispute with the tour promoter, and in fact Ne-Yo is not suing Kelly but only the promoter," Mayer said in a statement. "Ne-Yo may think blaming the situation on R. Kelly will improve his chances of collecting from the promoter, but if he does, he is sadly mistaken. Anyone remotely familiar with R. Kelly knows he is confident enough in his own abilities to be happy to share the stage with enormously talented people – the more talented, the better."
In a lawsuit that mirrors the one R. Kelly filed against Jay-Z in 2004, Ne-Yo stated he was fired from the Double Up tour without just cause by Kelly.
The singer also claims that he is owed $785,000 for performing on the outing with Kelly and fellow featured artists Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday.
The new situation adds yet another chapter to Kelly’s continuing legal saga.
The entertainer is currently embroiled a child pornography case that has encountered numerous delays in being heard in court.
Kelly, who is charged with 14 counts of child pornography, is slated to appear in court on Jan. 14.
Last week, a Cook County judge scheduled the singer’s child pornography trial to begin on May 9.
Kelly is due in court on January 14 and is scheduled to stand trial on 14 counts of child pornography starting on May 9, after a five-year delay.