A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ordered a concert promoter to pay R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo $700,000 stemming from a lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Ne-Yo was dropped from R. Kelly's tour last year after two shows. He claimed he was dropped because he had upstaged Kelly, an allegation the singer vehemently denied.
Kelly was not a party to the lawsuit. Ne-Yo (real name: Shaffer Smith) instead sued the tour's promoter, Georgia-based Rowe Entertainment Inc.
Rowe Entertainment never answered the lawsuit, and last week Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ordered the company to pay Ne-Yo and his touring company $700,320.
Rowe Entertainment said in a statement posted on its Web site after the lawsuit's filing that it couldn't obtain a "final, fully executed contract" from Ne-Yo's agent.
Ne-Yo's CDs "In My Own Words" and "Because of You" both had sales of more than 1 million.