As R. Kelly's civil lawsuit against Jay-Z reportedly nears a settlement, longtime Jay-Z friend Tyran "Ty Ty" Smith has pleaded guilty to pepper-spraying R. Kelly and his bodyguards in an incident that was at the center of the highly publicized feud between the two stars during their 2004 Best of Both Worlds tour.

Smith, the Def Jam honcho's friend and road manager and a vice president at the label, had faced assault charges in the incident, but copped to disorderly conduct and will serve four days of community service and get anger-management counseling.

The incident at Madison Square Garden was at the center of the war between the rapper and the crooner two years ago that led to Kelly's departure from the tour and two multimillion dollar lawsuits filed by R. Kelly against Jay-Z and company.

The second of those suits, filed last November, claimed that Jay-Z gave Smith an executive post at Def Jam as a reward for pepper-spraying Kelly and his crew.

Kelly is seeking $16 million in damages in that suit, which is nearing a settlement, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Kelly has a second suit against Jay-Z over the tour. He's seeking $75 million in damages over his departure from the tour, which Kelly claims he left after Jay-Z conspired with the tour's lighting director to sabotage the lighting during Kelly's sets.

During the MSG stop, Kelly claimed that men were flashing guns at him from the audience and he left the stage. The crooner said that he attempted to return to the stage after things had calmed down, when Smith pepper-sprayed him and his bodyguards.