NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Judge expected to rule on R. Kelly request to fly to Dubai

CHICAGO

A Chicago judge is expected to rule on whether to let R. Kelly travel overseas to perform several concerts to help the cash-strapped singer pay legal and other bills as he faces sex-abuse charges.

A hearing Friday follows a defense motion saying the 52-year-old singer hopes to do up to five April concerts in Dubai. He also planned to meet members of royal families in the United Arab Emirates.

One bond condition was that Kelly not travel outside Illinois unless he got the judge’s permission.

The motion says Kelly is also scrambling to pay child support because of the cancellation of Illinois concerts and a record contract.

Papa John’s scores Shaq to help rebound

NEW YORK

Papa John’s is getting “Shaq-ified.”

The pizza chain said Friday that basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal will be its new pitchman, appearing in TV commercials and promoting Papa John’s in other ways. The company hopes O’Neal can repair its image and revive its sales after the company’s founder and namesake, John Schnatter, made racially insensitive remarks.

Besides being a spokesman, O’Neal also will join the company’s board of directors and invest in nine of its restaurants in the Atlanta area.

“If you want to enjoy great pizza and feel loved by the people that serve the pizza, you can come back home now,” O’Neal said in an interview with The Associated Press. “‘The Daddy’ is here.”

The problems at Papa John’s started in 2017, when Schnatter criticized the NFL’s leadership and blamed protests by football players for falling pizza sales. Last year it was revealed that he used a racial slur during a media training session. Schnatter apologized for the slur, and the company scrubbed his face from the company’s logo and pizza boxes. He is still the Louisville, Ky.-based company’s biggest shareholder.

Associated Press