R. Kelly Scratched From UIC Concert After Open Letter

CHICAGO, IL — R&B artist R. Kelly has been scratched from a concert at the University of Illionis at Chicago following an open letter to UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis posted online demanded the May 5 show be canceled. The concert at the UIC Pavilion will still go on, but it will only include Xscap3, K. Michelle and Lyfe Jennings, according to Ticketmaster's website.

No reason was given for Kelly's removal from the bill Friday. University and Pavilion officials would not comment on the concert, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Earlier this week, students and staff at the University of Illinois at Chicago tried to derail an upcoming concert at the university by the R&B artist. An open letter to UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis asked for the performance at the UIC Pavillion to be canceled, and it drew signatures from the school community.

The letter was posted Wednesday to the Facebook page of UIC Women's Leadership and Resource Center. It's calling for the cancelation of the concert — called Love Jam 2018 and also featuring Xscap3, Lyfe Jennings and K. Michelle — because of the long history of sexual misconduct allegations that have dogged Kelly for decades.

"Not only is providing R. Kelly with a university venue a way of approving his conduct, the university’s decision also creates a hostile work environment for Black women who live, work and study at UIC. This is unacceptable to us," the letter states.

A protest had been planned if the concert had go on, according to the letter. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 1,200 signatures have been added to the letter.

RELATED: R. Kelly Called 'Puppet Master' Of 'Cult' In Buzzfeed Article

Accusations of sexual impropriety with women and underage girls leveled against Kelly, 51 — many of them listed in the letter — have stretched back to the mid-1990s when he was secretly married to the late singer Aaliyah when she was 15, although marriage documents claimed she was 18. The marriage was in 1994, and it was annulled a year later.

In 2008, Kelly was acquitted of child pornography charges that involved a video allegedly showing him having sex with a 14-year-old girl. The alleged victim in that case, however, refused to testify. Kelly also has faced numerous lawsuits connected with sexual misconduct allegations, and he has made financial settlements in those cases.

Last year, a Buzzfeed article written by former Chicago Sun-Times writer Jim DeRogatis accused Kelly of being a "puppet master" and holding at least six women against their will in an abusive and controlling cult-like setting.

The complete letter to UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis can be read at this Google Form.

R. Kelly performs during The Buffet Tour at Allstate Arena on May 7, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)