AWKWARD

Dubai Denies Booking R. Kelly Concert After Singer Petitioned The Court To Travel for Work To Pay Child Support

‘Authorities in Dubai have not received any request for a performance by singer R. Kelly nor are there any venues that have been booked,’ a government statement said.

On Sunday, the official media office with Dubai’s government denied that it had ever booked R. Kelly for a concert, as the singer claimed during a court proceeding last week. Kelly, who is facing multiple sex abuse counts, had petitioned an Illinois court for permission to travel to the United Arab Emirates so he could work to pay his child support. Steven Greenberg, Kelly’s lawyer, told a court that the singer “has struggled of late to pay his child support and other child related expenses.” In a court filing last week, Greenberg wrote, “Before he was arrested Mr. Kelly had signed a contract to perform between 3-5 shows in Dubai, UAE, in April 2019.” Greenberg added that the singer was “supposed to meet with the royal family.” But the Associated Press reports that Dubai’s ruling Al Maktoum family had not invited the singer. “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 statement said.

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