Ne-Yo Pockets Cash for R. Kelly Concert Flap

Ne-Yo, R. Kelly Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

Because of some backstage machinations, Ne-Yo is a little bit richer.

The R&B star has scored a nice payday for being dumped from R. Kelly's road show last year. A Los Angeles judge has ordered Kelly's promoter to pony up $700,320 to the "Because of You" Grammy winner.

Ne-Yo went to court in December, alleging he was bounced from the Double Up tour because his opening set was getting better reaction from fans and critics than Kelly's. The bill also featured Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday.

Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey made his default judgment after Georgia-based Rowe Entertainment refused to respond to the lawsuit filed by Ne-Yo under his real name, Shaffer Smith.

Per his suit, Ne-Yo was supposed to earn $785,000 on the 25-date jaunt, but the 25-year-old performer was canned by Rowe after the second show on Nov. 15 and only received a fraction of the contracted amount.

At the time, the promoter blamed the dismissal on Ne-Yo's camp for not completing the proper paperwork.

There was no immediate comment from either Ne-Yo or Rowe on the judge's ruling. Kelly was not named as a defendant in the suit.

It's shaping up to be a big month for the rising star, whose third studio album, Year of the Gentleman, drops Sept. 16.

Related Stories

View Next Articles

15 Comments

Now loading...

Add Your Comment!

Guests

E! Online members

Register | Forgot password?

Play nice and have fun. And please, no HTML tags or special characters including [&*#()!@$].
You've got 1000 characters left.

Post Comment

The Big Picture

Glassy Lassie Flashing some casual cool, Jessica Simpson shows off her big...sunglasses in WeHo

More Photos
GRAB & SHARE
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
Click Here

Our Partners

  • Huffington Post
  • PopEater

Get Your E! News Now

Text ENEWS to 4INFO (44636) for daily celeb news alerts

Standard messaging rates apply.

Did you know you can grab smokin' hot E! Online news, review and gossip through our RSS service?

New to RSS feeds? Learn more >>

Birthdate:

Enter your full birthdate:

  • Opt in for Breaking News Alerts

has been subscribed to the E! News Now Newsletter.

To change your settings, go to your preferences.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.