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R. Kelly denied permit to hold Spring Break Jam concert in Illinois

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Scott Legato/Getty ImagesHe was born and raised in Illinois, but R. Kelly isn’t welcome in Springfield.

Organizers of a planned Spring Break Jam concert with R. Kelly as host were denied a permit to hold the concert.  The event was to take place at the Illinois State Fairgrounds April 6.

Kelly’s been in the news since Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docu-series began airing last week, featuring women accusing the R&B singer of sexual abuse and other misconduct.  However, the permit was denied due to security concerns prompted by recent protests against Kelly, Department of Agriculture spokesperson Denise Albert told the Chicago Tribune, and not in response to the Lifetime series.  One of the protests took place last week outside Kelly’s recording studio in Chicago.

Promotion for the Spring Break Jam had already begun, but the eventbrite page promoting ticket sales now just gives readers an error message. A separate page with information about the event makes no mention of R. Kelly, advertising rapper Yella Beezy as the featured performer.

Yella Beezy has had his own recent troubles. The 26-year-old Dallas native nearly died in October when he was shot three times in a drive-by shooting.

Kelly’s lawyer Steven Greenberg issued a statement last Thursday denying the decades-long accusations against the Chicago native. He also defended the pop star in an interview with ABC News, saying, “There are no underage victims. There are no sexual assault victims.”

Greenberg added: “There are no victims of domestic violence that they’re going to find. It just didn’t ever happen.”

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