May 10, 2007 12:46

Akon apologises over dance footage

Sponsors pull out of tour with Gwen Stefani

Akon apologises over dance footage

Akon has publicly apologised after footage of the US rapper dancing provocatively on stage with a teenage girl was posted on the internet.

As previously reported, the controversial posting has led to telecommunications company Verizon to pull out as official sponsors for his US tour with Gwen Stefani.

The alleged incident with the 14 year-old girl took place on April 12 in Trinidad, where Akon was performing in a nightclub.

In a statement, the 34 year-old artist said: "I want to sincerely apologise for the embarrassment and any pain I've caused to the young woman who joined me on stage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert."

He furthered, "It was never my intention to embarrass or take advantage of my fans in any way, especially those under the age of 18. That is why we tried to make sure that the club did not admit anyone under 18 in the audience. Somehow, that standard was not met."

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