R Kelly drops Ne-Yo from US tour

R Kelly has dropped Ne-Yo from the support slot on his current US tour because of "contractual issues", but Ne-Yo has insisted that it is because his act has been getting better reviews than R Kelly's.

After it was announced that Ne-Yo would no longer be performing during the tour, he released a statement via his record label Def Jam, saying: "I am disappointed that I won't be able to perform for my fans. I love being on stage in front of fans because of the immediate feedback you get. You know right away if they are feeling you; and they were really feeling our show".

But during an interview Ne-Yo accused R Kelly of dropping him because he did not like his popularity, telling BET: "Let them (Kelly's label Jive) tell it that I was removed from the R Kelly tour because of contractual agreements not being met, but that's absolutely false.

"I believe it was because the first few reviews of the show, people were talking more about my set than his and I don't think he liked that too much."

R Kelly's representatives have insisted that it was purely a matter of contractual conflict and nothing to do with his performance. A spokesperson said: "Ne-Yo is a terrific talent and R Kelly is certainly confident enough in his own abilities to be happy to share the stage with enormously talented people. The more talented, the better. We're sorry it had to end this way."