Jay-Z got on the radio with Angie Martinez and was dissing R Kelly for walking off stage at tonights Best Of Both Worlds show. He basically said R Kelly was an unprofessional, primodonna egomaniac. And that he wouldn't step on the same stage with him anymore.
Jay told some stories about other shows on the tour that R fucked up. Apparently R left Jay to do all the promotion work, and was doing wierd shit like staying in his bus keeping Jay waiting for 2 hours.
Now R Kelly has entered the studio to talk to Angie Martinez. Jay said that he's got nothing to say to him.
― pheNAM (pheNAM), Saturday, 30 October 2004 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)
According to R:
Before the show he got an anonymous threat to "not come to the Garden tonight". Twice during the show he thought he saw two guys in the crowd flashing guns, and looking at him hard. After alerting security, nothing turned up. Freaked out, he announced the situation, apologized and appeared to leave for the night. After police were called, he decided to go back on, but was pepper-sprayed by someone he knew right before walking on stage. He was then taken to the hospital, and then came directly to the radio station.
He says he respects Jay and is prepared to go on for tomorrow nights show, and he denied that he’s been fucking up on the tour.
Earlier, Jay had said that all the guns talk was b.s. because the Garden has super-tight security.
Is this all a publicity stunt, or what? The broadcast was very tense. Great theater.
― pheNAM (pheNAM), Saturday, 30 October 2004 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)
they couldn't tour for the first BOBW because the allegations to R. were just coming out and he had too many legal troubles to properly promote the album. I don't think there's any contractual obligations, they wanted to do this tour to make up for last time, but it sounds like it's becoming a big mess. Jay's been playing polite up until now, on TRL he denied there being any serious problems between them and said over and over that R. is just a "perfectionist" and that's why shows keep getting delayed and cancelled. it's definitely true that he's been left to do most of the promotion for the album/tour by himself. but then, I can't really blame R., he'd probably have to deal with a bunch of stupid pissing jokes every time he does an interview.
allhiphop.com has real audio of both of them on Hot 97 airing it out, i'm so pissed that i'm at work right now and can't listen to it until i get home.
― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 30 October 2004 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)
R. Kelly Booted From Jay-Z Tour
By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - R&B singer R. Kelly was kicked off a tour with rapper Jay-Z Saturday, one day after Kelly walked offstage during a performance and allegedly was blasted with pepper spray by a member of Jay-Z's entourage.
Jeff Sharp, a contractor with tour promoter Atlanta World Wide Touring, confirmed that Kelly had been removed from the tour, but would not comment on the reason.
"The fans deserve better than this," Kelly said in a statement. "I'd like the show to go on. It's really disappointing that Jay-Z and the promoter don't."
Jay-Z and R. Kelly were in the midst of a 40-city "Best of Both Worlds" tour, scheduled to run through Nov. 28. The tour has been beset by canceled shows and reports that the feuding performers weren't even on speaking terms.
Sharp said Jay-Z would perform shows planned for Saturday and Monday at Madison Square Garden, but he did not know if the rapper would finish the tour as a solo act, or if the tour was simply finished.
The pepper-spray incident happened about an hour into Friday night's show, when Kelly walked on stage and said he saw two people in the audience waving guns, said Kelly's publicist, Allan Mayer. Kelly abruptly stopped his set around 9:30 p.m. while arena security employees searched for weapons.
Finding none, guards told Kelly it was safe to continue performing, Mayer said. But as the singer was making his way back to the stage, a man in Jay-Z's entourage —apparently miffed that Kelly interrupted the show — sprayed him and two of his bodyguards in the face, Mayer said.
"I'm pretty sure Jay didn't realize what was going on," Mayer said.
All three men were treated at St. Vincent's Hospital and released, he said. Jay-Z performed for another 45 minutes after Kelly was sprayed.
Jana Fleishman, publicist for Jay-Z, said Saturday that the rapper's entourage knew nothing about the incident because it occurred while Jay-Z was performing. Jay-Z "did not attack R. Kelly in any way, shape or form," Fleishman said.
In a radio interview on Hot 97 FM radio Friday, Jay-Z said he couldn't understand why Kelly left the stage.
"You can't get a gun inside Madison Square Garden," the rapper said. "If people give me love he can't take it."
Mayer said Kelly's lawyers were filing a criminal complaint against the man who allegedly sprayed him and also were considering legal action over the decision to remove the singer from the remaining tour dates.
"We're considering all possible ways of protecting Robert's interests," Mayer said.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported discord between the two performers after Kelly showed up more than two hours late for a show in Chicago and walked off the stage mid-performance in St. Louis this month.
Three shows on the tour were canceled because of "technical difficulties" suffered by Kelly, Fleishman said.
― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 31 October 2004 02:22 (twenty-one years ago)
three months pass...