Australian Politicians Call for R. Kelly Ban After Tour Announcement

By Rachel Yang

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – After R. Kelly tweeted (and then deleted) his announcement of new  international tours , Australian politicians swiftly called to block the R&B artist from entering the country.

Members of the opposition Labor Party released a statement about Kelly, saying, “Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds.”

Kelly had teased plans to perform in Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka on social media, but later deleted the posts. No specific dates or venues were ever listed.

There have long been calls to hold Kelly accountable for accusations of sexual misconduct against him, but the recent Lifetime docuseries “Surviving ” reignited protests against the singer. The project features numerous women who said they have been abused by him and that he is holding young women captive against their will. The groundswell of public condemnation led Sony Music to cut ties with Kelly, although his back catalog will remain with RCA/Sony.

Australia’s department of home affairs said it doesn’t comment on individual cases, but in the past, the country has barred people from entering for similar reasons. Boxer Floyd Mayweather was denied a visa due to family violence convictions, the BBC reports, and rapper Chris Brown was barred from obtaining a visa over his history of domestic violence.