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R. Kelly has been dropped from the Fashion Meets Music Festival in
Columbus, Ohio, after two bands previously abandoned their performance
slots when he was announced as a performer in June. Ohio bands
Saintseneca and Damn the Witch Siren chose to leave the festival,
slated for August 29 to August 31, citing past allegations leveled at
R. Kelly, including sexual assault. Though the "Ignition" singer was
eventually found not guilty of child pornography charges in a widely
publicized 2008 trial, earlier accusations of sexual assault against
Kelly were revived in an exhaustive Village Voice post last year.
Saintseneca plan to hold a benefit for sexual assault victims as a
counter concert. They wrote on their site at the time: "We feel his
selection as a performer ignores his very serious allegations of
sexual violence and assault. We feel it is an affront to all
survivors, who are already often overlooked and forgotten in our
society." The concert's founders initially defended their choice to
book Kelly as headliner, saying he filled the R&B void they had in the
lineup and that he had a legally clear record. "He was not convicted
of anything. He was acquitted," FMMF cofounder Bret Adams had told
Columbus Alive in June. "If we wanted to limit our artists to people
who never had brushes with the law or were not good people, then you
can eliminate quite a few across the board. We're running a festival
to help brand the city of Columbus. We're not the morality police."
But on Tuesday (July 29), FMMF announced that they have "decided to
part ways" with R. Kelly. The singer responded in a statement to the
Huffington Post: "R. Kelly is sorry to disappoint his fans, but looks
forward to seeing them in the near future during one of his upcoming
tours."
MTV NEWS
