R Kelly Drops Ne-Yo

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Ne-Yo has been dropped from the current R Kelly US tour, officially because of contractural issues, but according to Ne-Yo because Kelly was pissed off people liked his support act's set better than his own.

In an official statement via his label Def Jam, Ne-Yo said somewhat unpolitically: "I am disappointed that I won't be able to perform for my fans. I love being on stage in front of fans because of the immediate feedback you get. You know right away if they are feeling you; and they were really feeling our show".

But he got down to basics in an interview with BET.com, saying: "Let them [Kelly's label Jive] tell it that I was removed from the R Kelly tour because of contractual agreements not being met, but that's absolutely false. I believe it was because the first few reviews of the show, people were talking more about my set than his and I don't think he liked that too much"

But Kelly's people are sticking by the contractual issues story, telling reporters their man is a big fan of Ne-Yo and would love to tour with him. A spokesman said: "Ne-Yo is a terrific talent and R Kelly is certainly confident enough in his own abilities to be happy to share the stage with enormously talented people. The more talented, the better. We're sorry it had to end this way".