R Kelly's 2019 New Zealand concert will not go ahead as planned, following a public outcry regarding the controversial rapper's history of sex abuse allegations.
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The 'Ignition' hitmaker was due to perform at Auckland's Trusts Arena on Feburary 15, but the contract has since been cancelled, the venue confirmed to Newshub.
Australian promoters Big Music Tour told the Sydney Morning Herald that they'd booked an Australasian tour with R Kelly, despite his claims the tour was fake.
"However, given the current situation in R Kelly's personal life and the controversy surrounding him, the promoters have decided not to move forward and are focusing on other events," they said.
The King of R&B tour was announced late last year, sparking outrage amongst Kiwis, including choreographer Paris Goebbels, who slammed radio station Flava for their support of the show.
"Please tell me it's a joke - R Kelly is having a show in Auckland and @FlavaRadio is hosting him?," she wrote on social media.
The NZME station later announced via Twitter that they had cut ties with the show after receiving a raft of negative feedback.
"Whilst he is a massive artist, you are right - all the other stuff around him is not part of what Flava is about and we cannot and will not support this show."
The Grammy Award-winner was arrested and charged with multiple accounts of making child pornography in the early 2000s, although he was not convicted.
He's also settled out of court with multiple women who have accused him of misconduct, and has been accused of trapping women in a 'sex cult'.
News of the show's cancellation follows the release of a US documentary on the rapper, entitled Surviving R Kelly, which features testimonials from survivors of the alleged abuse, and interviews with members of R Kelly's inner circle.
Newshub.
