Over the weekend, R. Kelly decided to jump back on Instagram to plead with the public and media to "take it easy" on him ahead of a paid appearance at a club in Springfield, Illinois. The disgraced Chicago singer is facing a litany of sex abuse allegations, but the Dirty South Lounge still booked him. The 52-year-old appeared at the club and took pictures with fans, but he also had his first post-jail performance. Sort of.
Local news stations WICS and WRSP report that Kelly showed up to the club at 1:30 a.m., at which point he spent over half an hour interacting with fans. After this, he grabbed a microphone and sang the first line of his 1993 hit "Bump n' Grind." Reports indicate that around 100 people were there, although the Dirty South Lounge has a capacity of 450.
Sources told TMZ that Kelly was paid $22,000 for the appearance; he reportedly took $20,000, while the remaining $2,000 went to his booking agent.
Fans were interviewed outside of the club when it closed at 3 a.m., expressing their disappointment regarding Kelly's nearly nonexistent performance. Fans were charged $100 to get into Dirty South, although tickets dropped to $50 as the evening wore on. Considering all the accusations R. Kelly is facing, it's not exactly shocking that he would be one to take advantage of fans.
The government of Dubai recently released a statement leading to Kelly and his legal team withdrawing his request to travel there for a series of shows, saying there were never any concerts planned to begin with.
