Did R. Kelly Send an Impersonator to Perform in Louisiana?
UPDATE (10/28): A representative for R. Kelly told Fuse that the person on stage was, in fact, R. Kelly and that the event was billed as an "appearance," not a full concert.
R. Kelly pissed off fans across the South this weekend. Concertgoers are demanding refunds after paying for what they thought was an R. Kelly concert, yet ended up being what they claimed was an impersonator lip-syncing the star's hits for a few minutes before exiting.
According to the event's Facebook page, Ced's All Black Affair R. Kelly Black Panties Promo was booked for Monroe, Louisiana's Monroe Civic Center Arena on October 26. Less than two weeks earlier, promoter Ced Johnson excitedly wrote, "YESSSSSS HE IS ACTUALLY PERFORMING."
Curiously, R. Kelly's official website lists the Monroe event as a "hosting appearance."
After the event, local news station KNOE 8 interviewed a concertgoer, who said fans waited almost three hours for what was a lip-syncing R. Kelly impersonator "that may have sung every bit of four minutes." Watch the report below.
The Facebook page for the event is overrun with disappointed fan comments who expected an R. Kelly concert. One commenter said, "Times are too hard to STEAL from people and hype up a super WACK event" while another added, "Nobody in their right mind would pay 100+ dollars to attend a damn party nor drive 100+ miles for a party!!"
Since the event, KNOE reached out to Johnson, who wrote to the station via text message, "I'm sorry. I got duped" and promised partial refunds.
And because this story wasn't sketchy enough, after KNOE aired the initial report early Sunday, Johnson contacted the station saying the text message was from his phone, but did not come from him.
The event's Facebook page promises a statement will be given today "as to what accutally [sic] happend [sic] at the party." Stay tuned.
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