R. Kelly Will Keep Peforming Despite New Sex Misconduct Claims

CHICAGO, IL — The management team for R. Kelly is calling the cancellation of the embattled R&B singer's concert Saturday at the University of Illinois at Chicago "unfortunate and unjustified." In an email Thursday night to the Chicago Tribune, Kelly's handlers defended the right of his fans to see the singer perform live and said his next concert — a May 11 performance at in Greensboro, North Carolina — was still on the schedule, despite new sexual abuse accusations against the singer surfacing Friday.

Last week, Kelly was scratched from the lineup of Love Jam 2018, which also included Xscap3, K. Michelle and Lyfe Jennings. No reason was given for the change, and eventually, the plug was pulled on the entire show at the UIC Paviilion.

The letter from Kelly's team to the Tribune on Friday claimed the singer's performances over the past three decades have happened without incident. Security has never been issue at those events, and if it had been, that was the venue's responsibility, the letter stated.

"At recent concerts where protesters have exercised their First Amendment rights, they have acted peacefully — R&B soothes the soul," the letter to the Tribune stated. "It is the responsibility of every public performance hall to have the resources, plans and capabilities in place to ensure public safety."

RELATED: R. Kelly Scratched From UIC Concert After Open Letter

Kelly's removal came after an open letter to UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis demanded Saturday's concert be called off. The letter, which was posted online April 25, drew more than 1,300 signatures from students, staff and other members of the UIC community who protested Kelly's performance because of the long history of sexual misconduct allegations that have dogged the singer 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 stated.

In response to the cancelation of his performance, Kelly, 51, released an Instagram video apologizing to his fans and saying blame "ain't all on me." He also claimed he would be working with his lawyers to find out the reason he wasn't peforming Saturday.

"I don't know why they canceled my show," he said. "I've never heard of a show being canceled because of rumors, but I guess there's a first time for everything."

Although the #MuteRKelly movement has been targeting the singer for some time because of the sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him, Time's Up, the celebrity campaign designed to end workplace sexual harassment, publicly spoke out aginst Kelly this week.

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

"The scars of history make certain that we are not interested in persecuting anyone without just cause," a release from Time's Up organizers stated Monday. "With that said, we demand appropriate investigations and inquiries into the allegations of R. Kelly’s abuse made by women of color and their families for over two decades now. And we declare with great vigilance and a united voice to anyone who wants to silence us: Their time is up."

New sexual misconduct allegations against Kelly also came out in a Buzzfeed article published Friday. In that report, one woman accused the singer for the first time of engaging in "a mentally and physically abusive relationship" with her during a four-year span in the late 1990s. Another woman alleged that Kelly recrcuited and brainwashed her for a "cult" he led, according to Buzzfeed.

Accusations of sexual impropriety with women and underage girls leveled against Kelly — many of them listed in the UIC open 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.

More via the Chicago Tribune

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