R.Kelly booted off Jay-Z tour

R.Kelly has been booted off a tour with Jay-Z, a day after claiming he was attacked with pepper spray by a member of the rapper's entourage.

The R&B star alleged he had been sprayed onstage during a performance in New York. But Jay-Z's publicist has denied that the rapper or any of his associates were involved, reports the BBC.

Jay-Z and R Kelly were in the midst of the 40-city 'Best of Both Worlds' tour, scheduled to run until 28 November.

It is not known if Jay-Z will continue the tour - which is aimed at promoting their latest joint album - as a solo act.

Jeff Sharp, a contractor with tour promoter Atlanta World Wide Touring, confirmed that Kelly had been removed from the tour, but would not comment on the reason.

In a statement, R Kelly said: "The fans deserve better than this. I'd like the show to go on. It's really disappointing that Jay-Z and the promoter don't."

Kelly's publicist, Allan Mayer, said the pepper spray incident occurred during Friday's show (October 29) when Kelly walked onstage and said he saw two people in the audience waving guns.

He stopped performing while arena security employees searched for weapons.

Kelly continued his act after security told him it was safe to go on, but as the singer made his way back on stage he was allegedly sprayed in the face by a member of Jay-Z's entourage.

Kelly and two of his bodyguards were treated at St Vincent's Hospital.document.write(unescape("