Activists to storm R Kelly show
Kelly was recently nominated for two 2007 Grammy awards.
Thursday, 13, Dec 2007 10:40
Activists are to protest outside R Kelly's concert at the Los Angeles Forum on Friday December 12th.
The R 'n' B star is facing several counts of child pornography, having been indicted in 2002.
However the criminal case against the singer has suffered numerous false starts with the most recent attempts to bring the case to trial halted by disputes regarding the contents of a video tape purporting to show Kelly engaged in numerous sex acts with an underage girl.
A trial scheduled for February 7th 2007 was postponed after Kelly had to undergo surgery for a burst appendix while later dates were delayed due to dispute regarding the age of the tape and to allow the sitting judge to recuperate after a fall.
However African-American campaigners are to demonstrate against the singer being permitted to earn money from touring while he faces charges of such severity.
Activist Jasmyne Cannick told the Los Angeles Times: "It's like pulling teeth to get people to talk about this. It's a challenge to get the black community to even discuss it.
"They're acting like he doesn't have 14 counts of child pornography against him. We're all acting like we don't have daughters and nieces and little sisters.
"Everyone is making money, and everyone seems OK with him. People really need to wake up."
Kelly's most recent album Double Up was his fifth studio release to debut at number one on the US Billboard charts.