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Ne-Yo awarded $700,000 after R Kelly lawsuit

03/09/2008

R 'n' B star Ne-Yo has been awarded $700,320 (£395,580) 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 (£25,285) 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 (£396,980,256) for the 25-date tour and is still owed $735,000 (£371,682,132).

Ne-Yo's new album Year of the Gentleman is released on September 15th.