Australian lawmakers could banR. Kellyfrom performing in the country.
On Tuesday, Kelly, 52, announced on Twitter and Instagram that he’ll be touring in Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
“See y’all soon,” Kelly captioned the tour announcement flyer, which dubbed him the “The King of R&B.”
His announcement was met with a significant amount of backlash following numeroussexual misconduct allegationsagainst him. He has denied all allegations.
R. Kelly.Marc Andrew Deley/FilmMagic
“Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds,” the opposition partysaid in a statementto the BBC.
In the past, Australia has denied entry to celebrities and musicians with troubling pasts including singerChris Brownand boxer Floyd Mayweather.
Kelly has since deleted the tour announcement from all of his social media accounts but not before a number of Australians expressed their displeasure at his plans.
“Ok but like did anybody apart from R. Kelly want R. Kelly to tour Australia?” one userwroteon Twitter.
“Shouldn’t you be in jail? You for sure aren’t welcome here in Australia buddy?” anothertweetread.
“R. Kelly has no business coming to Australia. For any reason. At all,” another userexpressed.
A representative for the singer did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Prince Williams/WireImage
The news of Kelly’s potential tour comes just a month after the artist came under intense scrutiny in the wake of the Lifetime docu-series,Surviving R. Kelly, that features interviews with women who claim that for a decade Kelly used his power and influence to sexually and physically abuse women and young girls.
A lawyer for Kelly has stated that the R&B singerstrongly deniesthe string of sexual abuse allegations.
“The allegations aren’t true because he never knowingly had sex with an underage woman,” attorney Steve Greenberg said in aninterviewwith the Associated Press. “He never forced anyone to do anything, he never held anyone captive, he never abused anyone.”
If you or someone you know think they are being abused, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) now for anonymous, confidential help, available 24/7.
source: people.com
