You'd think R. Kelly would have learned a lesson about superstar concert tours from his botched "Best of Both Worlds" tour with Jay-Z in 2000, which remains in litigation.

But the Chicago crooner, who faces a May 9 trial date in his long-delayed child pornography rap, is now in the midst of a legal battle with neo-superstar Ne-Yo, who was fired from the "Double Up" tour with Kelly in November 2007.

In a complaint filed late last month in Los Angeles Superior Court, Ne-Yo--real name Shaffer Smith--claimed that he was fired from the tour without just cause and only because he upstaged Kelly. Ne-Yo claims that he was to be paid $785,000 dollars to perform as a featured artist on the tour, which also featured artists Keyshia Cole and J. Holiday.

Ne-Yo claims he was fired after two shows and paid $50,000 dollars, due to Kelly's alleged belief that the crowds were more enthusiastic to Ne-Yo's performances than his own.

"I love being on stage in front of fans because of the immediate feedback you get," the singer stated. "You know right away if they are feeling you; and they were really feeling our show."

But in a statement, Kelly dismissed the claim.

"The idea that R. Kelly had anything to do with Ne-Yo being dropped from the Double Up tour is just plain silly," Kelly said. "As we said at the time, Ne-Yo was dropped because of a contractual dispute with the tour promoter, and in fact, Ne-Yo is not suing Kelly but only the promoter. Ne-Yo may think blaming the situation on R. Kelly will improve his chances of collecting from the promoter, but if he does, he is sadly mistaken. Anyone remotely familiar with R. Kelly knows he is confident enough in his own abilities to be happy to share the stage with enormously talented people--the more talented, the better."

Kelly had similar issues with rapper Jay-Z on the pair's "Best of Both Worlds" tour in 2000, during which Kelly left amidst allegations that he consistently showed up late and complained that the stage lights weren't on him enough.

The dispute resulted in multiple lawsuits over lost revenue, including a $75 million suit Kelly filed against Jay-Z, which remains unresolved.