Copyright 2004 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.Chicago Sun-TimesOctober 31, 2004 Sunday
HEADLINE:
Kelly, Jay-Z tour ends after attack
BYLINE:
Jim DeRogatis
BODY:
The lucrative and heavily hyped Best of Both Worlds Tour featuring Chicago R&B singer R. Kelly and hip-hopgiant Jay-Z came to a halt Saturday as the simmering feud between the superstars erupted in public after a member of Jay-Z's camp allegedly attacked Kelly backstage in New York on Friday night."Despite being pepper-sprayed by a member of Jay-Z's entourage as he tried to return to the stage in MadisonSquare Garden last night, Kelly declared he was 'ready, willing, and able' to continue the tour," Kelly's spokesmansaid. "Jay-Z, however, refused to perform, as a result of which the promoter canceled the tour."A statement from Jay-Z's camp countered that Saturday's show at Madison Square Garden as well as New York area shows today and Monday would go on as scheduled -- without Kelly, but featuring "Jay-Z and special guests."Promoters could not say whether the tour would continue beyond these dates.Troubled partnershipThe two released their second joint album "Unfinished Business" last week and were midway through a 40-dateschedule. But the partnership was troubled since the tour started outside Chicago last month.Three shows were canceled in recent weeks, and Jay-Z said Kelly resented being upstaged. "If I get love, he can'ttake that," Jay-Z told New York's Hot 97 radio station after a chaotic scene at Madison Square Garden on Friday.The first show in Jay-Z's hometown Friday started with a performance by Kelly, but the singer abruptly stoppedthe show when he said he saw two people in the crowd waving guns, according to his spokesman, Allan Mayer.Security staffers searched the crowd for weapons as Kelly waited in his dressing room, Mayer said. Apparentlyangry about the delay, a member of Jay-Z's entourage stood in the hallway insulting Kelly and questioning hismanhood, he added.When security didn't find any weapons in the crowd, guards told Kelly it was safe to perform, Mayer said. But asKelly was making his way back to the stage, Mayer said that the man who had been hurling insults sprayed the singer and two of his bodyguards in the face with pepper spray.Kelly was treated in the emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan early Saturday. Jay-Z finishedFriday night's show with the help of some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B -- including Usher, Mary J. Bligeand Foxy Brown -- who had been watching the show backstage.'That's it. It's too much'The rapper did not comment on the incident with Kelly onstage, but he attacked his erstwhile partner as unreliableduring several interviews with New York radio stations Saturday."We had to cancel Milwaukee, then we had to cancel Connecticut; we canceled St. Louis and then we canceledCincinnati," Jay-Z said. "This is just disrespectful, man. Everybody better grab their 'Best of Both Worlds' albums, because that's it. It's too much. Certain things aren't meant to be."Kelly's spokesman Mayer said he was disgusted after hearing the rapper's comments on the radio. "He called thewhole thing that happened last night a stunt," Mayer said. "I witnessed it last night, and believe me, it was not a stunt."
Mayer said that Kelly plans to file a criminal complaint with New York police against the man who pepper-sprayedhim. Sources in the concert industry said that lawsuits also are likely as a result of the canceled shows.$800,000 a nightThe tour -- which was grossing as much as $800,000 a night -- featured Kelly and Jay-Z throughout a three-hour show. It started without incident at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont on Sept. 29, but it ran into trouble the followingnight, when a second show at the same venue started two hours late as Kelly retooled portions of his set."It was terrible," Jay-Z said on Saturday. "I'm waiting in my white suit for two hours. The guy don't comedownstairs . . . you don't do that. I'm like, 'I don't work for you, B.' But I gave him that leeway, because that's histown."More problems arose during a concert Oct. 23 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. That show was about two-thirdsthrough when Kelly jumped off the stage, ran to the back of the arena and exchanged heated words with productiontechnicians. When Kelly returned, he said good night and stormed off, leaving Jay-Z to finish the concert alone. Kellythen drove to a local McDonald's and spent the next few hours serving fast food from the drive-through window, hisspokesmen confirmed.The Sun-Times has reported that Kelly has used his position of fame and influence as a pop star to have sexualrelationships with underage girls. In June 2002, he was indicted on charges of child pornography after the newspaper received a videotape that prosecutors say shows him having sex with a 14-year-old girl.Kelly and Jay-Z first teamed up in 2002. But when the release of their "Best of Both Worlds" album coincided withrevelations about the videotape, Jay-Z refused to tour, do interviews or even have his picture taken with Kelly, and thealbum flopped.Jay-Z has never said why he resumed the partnership. Kelly is due in court in Chicago again Friday for the nexthearing in the child pornography case.Contributing:
Stephanie Zimmermann, Lisa Donovan
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November 23, 2004
