Ne-Yo Wins Big In R. Kelly Lawsuit
R & B star Ne-Yo has been awarded $700,320 after suing fellow singer R Kelly over being dropped from a tour.Ne-Yo and R Kelly were co-headlining the Double Up tour of North America in 2007 when the former, born Shaffer Smith, was asked to leave the tour after just two shows.
The Closer singer claimed that he was sacked from the tour after fans and critics preferred his performance to that of Kelly.
Though he was paid $50,000 for his two performances, Ne-Yo and Compound Touring Inc filed a suit in January against Rowe Entertainment Inc seeking unspecified damages.
The latter never responded to the case and a Los Angeles superior court judge has now ordered Rowe Entertainment to pay Ne-Yo and his touring company damages over the dispute.
Talking to BET.com at the time of the original lawsuit, Ne-Yo said Jive Records' allegation that contract problems had caused his exit were "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," he added.
The suit maintained he was due to be paid $785,000 ) for the 25-date tour and is still owed $735,000.
Ne-Yo's new album Year of the Gentleman is released on September 15th
November 14, 2008 at 5:00 PM
My boy put me onto the whole R.Kelly/Ne-Yo lawsuit and I kinda wanted to just see what others were saying.
It seems to me that Ne-Yo was better off getting kicked off the tour. Got all the money and didn't have to work for it. But what's with Kelly? How come this guy is always having issues on tours. Remembers the mace in the eyes things when he was on tour with Jay-Z?