The United Arab Emirates government has issued a statement on Sunday saying there is no R. Kelly’s concert in Dubai, as his legal team claimed.
“Authorities in Dubai have not received any request for a performance by singer R. Kelly nor are there any venues that have been booked,” the government’s Dubai Media Office said, adding that Kelly “has not been invited by the Dubai royal family for a performance.”
The rare statement from the Dubai Media Office comes days after Kelly’s lawyers filed a motion seeking permission for the financially troubled singer to travel to Dubai via private jet to perform concerts and meet the sheikdom, the Associated Press reports; as part of Kelly’s $1 million bail agreement, he turned over his passport.
The concerts had not been promoted online. And Dubai Media Office has now denied that they were ever due to take place.
In a reply, Mr Kelly’s lawyer Steven A Greenberg said:
“R. Kelly had a signed contract with a legitimate promoter, and any information that was included in the motion to travel was from that contract.
“We did not say he was invited by the royal family, but the contract did say that he would make himself available to meet with them.
