R Kelly banned from video shoot
edonline
R&B singer R Kelly, who is awaiting trial on child pornography charges, has
been banned by a judge from appearing at a shoot for his forthcoming music
video.
On Wednesday, Mr Kelly was prohibited from visiting the shoot in Los Angeles
but the judge ruled he was allowed to visit the Black Entertainment
Television (BET) awards ceremony in the city.
The Chicago-based singer has not been allowed to leave the city except on a
judge's instructions after being indicted on 21 child pornography offences
last June. He was freed on bail.
The charges stem from a videotape that allegedly shows Kelly having sex with
an underage girl. The 36-year-old singer denies the charges.
Mr Kelly had planned to travel to Los Angeles to shoot a video for his new
single from his forthcoming album.
But Cook County Judge Vincent Michael Gaughan said the singer's lawyers had
not produced an argument as to why the singer could not record his
performance from Chicago using new technology.
'More harm than good'
However, the singer will appear at the BET awards event on 24 June. He is
nominated in two categories.
The judge also allowed him to appear at a concert in Dallas raising money
for the families of soldiers killed in the war in Iraq.
Judge Gaughan said preventing Mr Kelly from attending the awards show or the
charity concert would "do more harm than good".
In court on Wednesday, Mr Kelly's lawyers argued that preventing the singer
from travelling was harming his ability to earn a living.
The singer was in court but remained silent.
No date has been set for Mr Kelly's trial. If found guilty, the singer could
face 15 years in jail and a fine of $100,000 (£62,500).
Mr Kelly is still a popular music artist. His most recent album, Chocolate
Factory, has sold more than 1.7 million copies in the US alone.
His single Ignition is currently the number one song in the UK single chart.
Ignition is the singer's 14th UK top 20 single. His last hit, The World's
Greatest - from the film Ali - reached number four in March 2002.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/2965062.stm
Published: 2003/06/05 10:04:45 GMT