Ne-Yo Sues R. Kelly For Dropping Him From Tour

After being ousted from R. Kelly's North American tour, R&B star Ne-Yo is firing back with a lawsuit against the Chicago singer's promoter, Rowe Entertainment.

As previously reported, Kelly's camp said Ne-Yo was relieved from the line-up because there was no signed contract, but Ne-Yo begged to differ.

"In my opinion, I was doing everything possible to make the tour a success ... You know right away if they are feeling you; and they were really feeling our show," he said.

Ne-Yo (born Shaffer Smith) believes the real reason he was given the boot is because he was outshining Kells.

The suit, filed on Dec. 31 with the Superior Court of the State of California in L.A., claims that on Nov. 12, 2007, "without warning and without valid basis to do so," Kelly fired Ne-Yo

According to The Smoking Gun, who obtained a copy of the suit, Ne-Yo goes on to allege that an unknown rep for Kells urged him to terminate Ne-Yo from the tour "given the audience's and critic's more favorable reaction to Smith than the reaction to R. Kelly."

Slated to earn $785,000 for opening for Kelly at a minimum of 25 concerts, Ne-Yo walked away with a fraction of that, fired after only his second performance.

In related legal news, Kells will be heading back to court in May to finally face charges in his child pornography case that has dragged on for about five years now. R is accused of having sex with a teenage girl and videotaping it.