R. Kelly's upcoming gig at Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theater has been sacked, because the production team tasked with building the set is unable to travel out of South Carolina, "Hurricane Florence" runs the risk of becoming a flight hazard. The New York gig would have been R. Kelly most high profile "event" in quite some time, considering the dark shadow cast by his personal life. By all accounts, R. Kelly the cancellation might be a blessing in disguise. Based on Ticketmaster's running count of tickets being sold, Robert Kelly wasn't faring too well. As of yesterday, much of the front row and middle section remained unsold, leading to entire rows getting "blocked off" by site administrators.
Rumors were afoot, that venue holders would find some loophole to circumvent the arrangement, but Madison Square Garden told Spin, "We believe artists have the right to rent our venues to put on their own event, and that the public then has the choice whether or not to support that event," ruling out the possibility of a last minute change of heart.
The cancellation comes a day after R.Kelly's younger sibling accused him of molesting their 14-year old cousin. His demonization seems to be catching up with him at the box office, as it has for Kevin Spacey over on the silver screen.