The R&B singer R Kelly, who is facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse, has announced a tour to Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, prompting concern from members of the public and some MPs.
The tour, which was announced in social media posts from the singer – but was accompanied by no dates or venues – comes in the wake of an explosive documentary detailing allegations that the artist has been sexually and physically abusing women for decades. R Kelly has denied the allegations, and has faced no criminal convictions.
The Australian shadow minister for immigration and border protection, Shayne Neumann, has said the Labor party would be “seriously concerned” if Kelly was allowed into the country.
In January, a previously announced February tour of Australasia fell by the wayside, after Kelly claimed that the tour news was “fake”, and the promoter abandoned it.
The promoter of the February tour, Big Music Tour, alleged that the tour had been organised, but that after it was announced “other Australian promoters” began presenting “higher fees” to Kelly and his manager.
A company spokesperson told Fairfax in January that they had been “working on a solution” to move forward with the tour when the explosive documentary, Surviving R Kelly, landed on Netflix – causing them to pull back completely.
“Given the current situation in R Kelly’s personal life and the controversy surrounding him, the promoters have decided not to move forward and are focusing on other events,” they said.
The new tour was announced on Wednesday on the artist’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. The promoter, Flamingo Dreamz, did not respond to Guardian’s request for comment.
In a statement, Australia’s shadow immigration minister said: “Labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visas of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds … Labor would be seriously concerned if immigration minister David Coleman would allow an individual such as R Kelly into Australia.
“If the immigration minister suspects that a non-citizen does not pass the character test, or there is a risk to the community while they are in Australia, he should use the powers he has under the Migration Act to deny or cancel their visa.”
The Australian government has previously denied visas to Chris Brown and Floyd Mayweather following similar allegations of violence against women.
A spokesperson for Immigration NZ said they had not received an application for a visa by R Kelly, but performers from visa waiver countries such as the United States did not have to apply in advance.
“However, some performers are required to apply for a visitor visa prior to travelling due to character issues,” the spokesperson said.
“In general, character issues are typically existing charges or previous convictions related to offences such as robbery, sexual or common assault, or possession/use of drugs, firearms, weapons.”
Kelly is scheduled to perform two shows in Germany in April; a Change.org petition, signed by more than 22,000 people, is calling for these gigs to be cancelled.
While the documentary Surviving R Kelly – and renewed calls by activists to #MuteRKelly – have led to widespread outrage against him, the artist has not been convicted of any crimes. Kelly has, however, been quietly dropped by his label – and last week Philadelphia passed a bill symbolically banning him from the city.
Last year New Zealand’s biggest hip-hop radio station, Flava, pulled its support for R Kelly and any possible tour after receiving a torrent of complaints and concerns from listeners.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence against women in the developed world.
“We hear you, and whilst he is a massive artist, you are right – all the other stuff around him is not part of what Flava is about and we cannot and will not support this show,” Flava wrote on Twitter at the time.
