The self-proclaimed pied piper of R&B, R. Kelly walked off stage after claiming two audience members waved guns at him, at a Madison Square Garden concert on his “Best Of Both Worlds 2” tour with Jay-Z. Kelly also claims he was then hit in the face with pepper-spray, by an unknown member of Jay’s crew.
“While onstage Friday (Oct 29) night Kelly suddenly stopped his set at about 9:30 p.m. and left the stage after alleging he saw two fans in the crowd carrying what looked to Kelly like guns,” stated his publicist, Allan Mayer. “Garden security conducted a search for weapons but found none.”
Allegedly when R. was going back on stage a member of Jay-Z’s entourage sprayed Kelly and his bodyguards with some kind of pepper spray according to Mayer. “I’m pretty sure Jay didn’t realize what was going on,” Mayer said by phone Sunday.
“It’s not about Jay and me, it’s about the fans.” Said Kelly after the incident “That’s why I don’t see how this could get so twisted out of shape.” R. Kelly also stated that he’s been banned from Madison Square Garden and kicked off the tour.
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“Kelly and crew were treated at an area hospital and released. Jay-Z continued performing after the incident and was joined by Usher, who was in the Garden crowd, for a surprise three-song performance,” said Jana Fleishman, Jay-Z’s publicist. “Jay did not attack R. Kelly in any way, shape or form because he (Jay) was on stage when the supposed spraying went down.”
In an interview on Saturday, Jay-Z said he was puzzled by the way Kelly had acted.
“You can’t get a gun inside Madison Square Garden,” the rapper said. “If people give me love, he can’t take it.”
The “Best of Both Worlds” tour, launched earlier this month, was scheduled for 40 cities, shows in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Hartford, Conn., were canceled, and there are continuing rumors that R. Kelly and Jay-Z hadn’t spoken since the tour began. According to witnesses in St. Louis last week, Kelly cut his set short and left the stage for no apparent reason and Kelly reportedly showed up two hours late for a concert in his hometown of Chicago, which according to sources had ”pissed Jay-Z of even more.”
According to Fleishman the cancellations are just “technical difficulties” that happens and things were fine. She added that Jay-Z “has been ready to perform and has been frustrated in having to cancel shows.”
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Now that the Best Of Both World Tour has been cancelled and Jay-Z says he will continue the New York dates for the fans. The card will feature Jay with “Special Guests” at the Continental Airlines Arena on Oct. 30, 31 and Nov. 1. On Saturday, Mary J. Blige, Usher and Ja Rule performed at Madison Square Garden.
Full refunds are being offered to fans who wanted to see Kelly.
