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BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — Publicists for a festival in Louisiana say rapper Kevin Gates has cancelled his performance due to "an unforeseen incarceration."
The Baton Rouge singer was sentenced Wednesday to 180 days in jail after being convicted of kicking a female fan at a Florida concert last year.
Organizers of the 2016 Voodoo Fest said in a tweet that the artist scratched his performance "due to an unforeseen incarceration."
News outlets report a Polk County jury found Gates guilty of battery after he was captured on cellphone video kicking 19-year-old Miranda Dixon at Lakeland's Rumors Nightclub, where he performed last August.
Dixon, who was in the crowd, testified that she tugged on Gates' pants twice to get his attention for her friend. After the second time, she says Gates kicked her so hard that she fell back and passed out.
Gates' attorney, Jose Baez, argued his client was battered by the woman before he kicked her and that Dixon has a financial motive in the case, saying that she had a civil lawyer.
The New Orleans Advocate (http://bit.ly/2fbtfk9) reports Gates was slated to perform on Voodoo's Pepsi Stage at 8:45 p.m. on Friday. No word yet on who, if anyone, will replace him. He has presumably also scrapped his post-fest show at the House of Blues, which was slated for later Friday night.
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