R. Kelly Files New Lawsuit Against Jay-Z

R&B singer R. Kelly has filed a new lawsuit against rapper, mogul and Def Jam President Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, stemming from last year’s disastrous “Best of Both Worlds Tour.” Kelly filed the lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that the man who peppered sprayed him at the Oct. 2004 Madison Square Garden tour stop was […]

R&B singer

R. Kelly has filed a new lawsuit against rapper, mogul and Def Jam President

Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, stemming from last year’s disastrous

“Best of Both Worlds Tour.”

Kelly filed the lawsuit

in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that the man who peppered sprayed him at

the Oct. 2004 Madison Square Garden tour stop was rewarded with a job at Def

Jam.

The embattled R&B singer

claims the hiring of Tyran “Ty-Ty” Smith – who is currently

awaiting trial for assault over the incident – proves that Smith was “acting

within the scope and course of his employment by Jay-Z."

Handlers for Jay-Z

claim the entire lawsuit is a publicity stunt meant to divert attention away

from his upcoming felony trial involving an alleged sexual incident with a 14-year-old

girl.

A Chicago, Illinois Judge

recently ruled that Kelly must stand trial over the alleged violations.

The “Best

of Both Worlds Tour” was a disaster from the beginning. The tour was supposed

to capitalize off of an album of the same name, which was shelved when an alleged

videotape of Kelly having sex with an underage girl surfaced and spread.

The album was retooled

and released as The Best of Both Worlds, Unfinished Business, but was

greeted with lukewarm sales, despite the superstar status of both artists, who

have sold over 60 million records combined.

“The first night [in

Chicago] was terrible,” Jay-Z said directly after the Madison Square Garden

fiasco. “I’m waiting in my white suit for two hours. The guy don’t

come downstairs…you don’t do that. I’m like, ‘I don’t

work for you, B.’ I gave him that leeway, because that’s his town.”

Kelly claimed that

several songs into his performance, unidentified men in the crowd flashed guns

in his direction, prompting him to storm off of the stage.

He said that when

he tried to return to finish his performance, Smith maced him and several associates,

prompting a trip to the hospital, where Kelly and crew were treated and released.

In November of

2004, Smith was arrested and formally charged with misdemeanor assault violations

over the incident.

Kelly was booted

from the remainder of the tour and filed a $90 million breach of contract lawsuit

against Jay-Z, who answered Kelly’s suit with his own.

Jay-Z’s suit alleges

Kelly would cry “hysterically" at times and even left a show in St.

Louis where he went to a local McDonald’s and “began to serve food to

patrons at the drive-thru."