R&B crooner R.Kelly
has smacked Jay-Z with a $75 million lawsuit on Nov. 1 and accused the rapper
of intentionally disrupting his efforts throughout their “Best of Both Worlds
Tour.
In a statement,
Kelly accused Jay-Z and affiliates of his Marcy Projects production company
of a myriad of offenses including physical assault via pepper spray, breach
of contract, deliberate sabotage by Jay-Z’s alleged lighting director.
Furthermore, the
legal action also named well-known Jay-Z associate Tyran “Ty Ty”
Smith as the person who allegedly pepper-sprayed him at the Madison Square Garden
show on Friday Oct. 29.
The suit was filed
in New York Supreme Court after the promoter, Atlanta Worldwide Touring Company,
cancelled the pair’s four New York dates and held a “Jay-Z and Friends”
concert instead.
In a statement,
his lawyers stated, “R. Kelly’s own lighting director took over the lighting
duties for the "Best of Both Worlds Tour" tour at an Oct. 29 concert
at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.
The show went off
flawlessly that night. But at a Madison Square Garden show the following night,
R. Kelly saw two men with guns in the audience and left the stage fearing for
his life, the lawsuit says.
R. Kelly agreed
to resume his performance after police were called, but on his way back to the
stage he and members of his entourage were assaulted with pepper spray wielded
by an associate of Jay-Z identified as Smith, the lawsuit charges.”
To support his
suit, Kelly claims that Jay-Z shorted fans by prematurely leaving a date in
Memphis on Oct. 17 in order to attend a party for R&B star Usher.
In the suit, Kelly
seeks to get $15 million in damages in lost revenue from the tour cancellation
and $60 million in punitive damages from Jay-Z, Smith and the promoter.
Smith can be seen
in the movie “State Property,” where he plays the character Shareef.
