Hardbeatnews, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. May 10, 2007: Hip-hop star Akon, under fire for simulating sex with a Trini teen, has said he’s sorry more than a month after the incident occurred at a Port-of-Spain night club in Trinidad.

The Senegalese singer’s apology, released in a statement, came just days after telecommunications giant Verizon, pulled their sponsorship dollars from his tour with Gwen Stefani.

"I want to sincerely apologize for the embarrassment and any pain I've caused to the young woman who joined me onstage, her family and the Trinidad community for the events at my concert,” the singer stated. "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."

The incident, captured on video and released on YouTube, occurred on April 12th at Club Zen in Trinidad. The video showed the singer dry humping a teen, later identified as Danah Alleyne, the daughter of a preacher man, on stage during a live appearance at Club Zen in Port-of-Spain. The sexually simulated dance number showed Akon vigorously grinding the teen on different areas of the stage to a soca rhythmic version of his song, ‘Don’t Matter.”

The teen has admitted to being allowed into the Club despite being underage and said she was part of an impromptu dance competition announced by the singer. The competition, featuring seven girls, was announced and a trip to Africa was offered as the Prize, she told the Trinidad Express. But after she won the contest, she said Akon announced the Africa prize was really him.

She said he proceeded to start dancing with her and she danced back but then things got out of control. "I got carried away, I started to dance as well but I never thought it was going to be like that. I was shocked, my head was hitting the floor," the Express quoted her as saying.

Johnny Soong, owner of the Zen nightclub, has said the club has a strict 18-year-old only policy and Alleyne must have “gotten through the cracks.” On chatrooms, many blasted the teen as no “innocent” and insisted she looks much older than her 15 years, espeically dressed provacatiively with a top that left little to the imagination.

Trinidad PM Patrick Manning called on authorities to investigate the matter to the fullest, according to the Trinidad media reports, adding that it is not the first time that foreign artists had overstepped their boundaries.

"I have taken very careful notice of this matter and the owner of Zen owes it to the public to take responsibility. I will be interfacing with Zen because that kind of thing should never be allowed to happen in this country," said the PM.

Akon’s representatives had remained mum on the issue but the label had reportedly threatened YouTube with copyright infringement and the outrageous video has been pulled.

Akon hits include "Don't Matter," "I Wanna Love You" with Snoop Dogg and "Smack That" with Eminem. His latest album, “Konvicted," has sold more than 1 million copies in the United States. Readers can see the simulated sexual performance at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1rnod_akon-actin-a-fool. -

Hardbeatnews.com