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It's been a busy few weeks for R&B star Usher, and he has now responded to claims that he used a "clone" at one of his recent shows.
The US artist has been on tour with Chris Brown across North America, with the pair managing to make headlines.
Just two months into their 33-date tour, Usher has caused controversy after bringing a female audience member up on stage in July to engage in a steamy moment, but it quickly turned awkward.
In the exchange, a shirtless Usher sang to an unimpressed female fan, who remained stiff and gave him a tight smile.
While Usher's attempt ended awkwardly, as he waved her off stage after she refused to join him on an onstage bed then later claimed on social media that she only went to see Brown.
But now, Usher has received some criticism, as many believed that he sent a clone to perform in his place during a show in New York.
Fans were accusing the "Yeah!" artist of getting a lookalike to perform on the Raymond & Brown Tour with Chris Brown, but he quickly shot these rumors down.
Users had pointed out that the singer's face is hidden behind a hat and sunglasses in these clips, resulting in accusations of an Usher lookalike performing on stage instead of the real deal.
Usher took to Instagram on Sunday (August 9), commenting on a video shared to the official R&B Tour account, with the post including a video of him performing.
Alongside it was a screenshot of Instagram comments he made, speaking about the clone allegations.
He started his first comment with a laughing emoji, before adding: “Ya’ll are funny…clone? They can’t clone this??”
“How ya’ll come up with this?” he asked in a different comment, adding more laughing emojis before pointing out in jest: “AI ain’t that advanced.”
Questions started to be raised after footage of Usher performing at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Friday went viral, as many believed that the singer looked different in several clips.
The claims started to circulate online earlier this month, despite Usher and Brown starting their tour in June, with it set to run until December.
One viral X post read: “Usher you can’t fool New York that’s not you bro i want my money back.”
Another penned: “Usher, why’d you have to play us all like that last night??”
Other users said that he had "sent out his doppelganger," but one particular viral TikTok called the man on stage “a very bad” likeness.
They went on: “I have to say that these people do not look the same in my opinion, at all,” speaking while the viral footage is showing in the background.
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Another video has resurfaced from a Chris Brown concert in which the singer simulates an intimate act on stage - with some questioning whether it crosses the line.
Brown - as well as Usher, who is on tour with him - has quite literally thrust himself back into the spotlight in recent times with his overtly sexual performances.
First it was Usher, who asked a woman on stage the other day only to then kick her off because of her reaction.
The woman was clearly not feeling his hyper-sensual performance and dancing and looked awkward as hell up there.
Afterwards, that sparked a whole thing with competing statements and on-stage declarations from Usher as well as the woman herself, who not only defended her actions, but also said that she was mostly there for Chris Brown.
If it had been Brown who had grabbed her and brought her on stage, her reaction might have been different, even if his would have been quite similar.
The controversial R&B singer, who was convicted of assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna some years back, is known for his risque on-stage performances, which often take place on a bed and involve the singer bashing himself against the back of a woman to the delight of the crowd.
In one recent video, Brown tied a woman to a pole and held her against it - an interesting choice for a man with his past - before then starting to thrust at her and kiss her neck.
It was certainly too much for some viewers.
One comment asked: "Is this normal dancing or f***ing [in] broad daylight?”
"I see why that girl at the Usher show was p***ed she didn’t get Chris Brown looool,” said another.
"People are literally getting f***ed on the f***ing stage bro,” a third wrote.
Now, this has been part of Brown’s show for a while now, but another video has turned up from July that has people talking.
The video, another from the US tour, was shared in July and shows Brown singing a song while positioning a woman on an on-stage bed in front of him.
He then proceeds to mime sex with her, thrusting himself against her from behind.
The woman, for her part, seems pretty involved too.
Again, people were taken aback - you can check the clip out for yourself here.
"I'm shocked by those who subject themselves to this,” one person wrote.
Another asked: “What the f*** is this, who's paying to see some s*** like this?”
However, some aren’t so bothered.
One positive comment said: "Ignoring that it's that fool Chris Brown.
"Y'all are way too conservative, huh. It's just a performance ... She agreed to it.... People bought tickets ... Knowing there's this part 'cause he always does it…”
Another said: "Normal, they must have lined up when he asked some woman to come up.”
Since all of this has gone viral, many have pointed out the difference between these overly sexualized performances and those of - for example - an equivalent female artist such as Sabrina Carpenter.
Carpenter has attracted attention for a part of her show during the Short n’ Sweet tour whereby she adopted a very raunchy position during her song ‘Juno’.
Obviously, this has divided opinion.
The reactions to Usher and Chris Brown can often focus on it being ‘part of the show’
and women ‘queuing up’ to be a part of the act.
However, Sabrina Carpenter has been very vocal about the sexuality of her own concerts and songs.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, she said: "It’s always so funny to me when people complain,
"They’re like, ‘All she does is sing about this.’
"But those are the songs that you’ve made popular.
"Clearly you love sex. You’re obsessed with it. It’s in my show. "There’s so many more moments than the ‘Juno’ positions, but those are the ones you post every night and comment on.
"I can’t control that. If you come to the show, you’ll [also] hear the ballads, you’ll hear the more introspective numbers.
"I find irony and humor in all of that, because it seems to be a recurring theme.
"I’m not upset about it, other than I feel mad pressure to be funny sometimes."
Is it fair, is there an imbalance between what she is doing and the actions of Brown and Usher?
Or, do people simply need to let everyone get on with it?
A video of Chris Brown getting steamy with a fan on-stage has resulted in many making the same observation about the encounter.
The US artist has been on tour with Usher as part of the R&B Tour across North America, and they have managed to make headlines along the way.
Just two months into their 33-date tour, Usher has already caused controversy after bringing a female audience member up on stage last month to engage in a steamy moment, but it quickly turned awkward.
In the exchange, a shirtless Usher sang to an unimpressed female fan, who remained stiff and gave him a tight smile.
While Usher's attempt ended awkwardly, as he waved her off stage after she she refused to join him on an onstage bed, she even took to social media to reveal that she only went to see Brown.
And during the duo's Saturday (August 1) performance at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York, the 'Fine China' artist may have proved why she wanted to be up with him.
The R&B artist usually invites a female audience member up during his shows to share an intimate moment during a rendition of his 2007 hit, 'Take You Down'.
Brown had a fan's hands tied up against a pole, before moving her up and down the pole as he thrust towards her, before starting to kiss her neck, which brought on cheers from the crowd.
She could be seen smiling and even moaning while he kissed her neck, before he started to lick the sweat off her arms and legs.
A short clip of the exchange has generated over 8.3 million views, but viewers all noticed the same thing about Brown's heated segment.
In the comments below a post of the video, one user said: "Concerts have turn into soft p*rn yoo," with someone else agreeing with the point: "So people pay to watch live action p*rnos?
Others remembered Usher's awkward moment on stage, as a social media user wrote: "I see why that girl at the Usher show was p**sed she didn’t get Chris Brown looool," as another quipped: "That’s how that one girl thought her night was gonna be but got Usher lmaooooooooo."
A fifth user didn't hold back, claiming: "People are literally getting f***ed on the f***ing stage bro."
While many were disgusted by the original video, an extended clip soon started to circulate online.
It involved Brown bringing the woman to an on-stage bed, where they partook in more NSFW simulated activities for thousands in the crowd to see.
The artist can be seen throwing the woman's legs back, before simulating oral sex and licking up to her chest and seemingly planting a kiss on her.
He can then be seen thrusting towards her while her legs are back, again simulating sex.
If the show organizers are trying to dispel claims being made by those online, they're not doing a very good job.
Usher has broken his silence after he kicked a fan off stage due to her awkward response to his "sexual" performance.
As previously reported, the 47-year-old musician tried to serenade a fan in Nashville during his The R&B Tour, which he co-headlines with Chris Brown.
A video from the concert shows the Grammy-winning star, who was shirtless, singing to the fan, identified as Gabrielle Cheyenne, as she sat stiffly and had a tight smile on her face.
The 'Yeah!' crooner tried to save the segment by lightly touching her chin and face, but when he tried to guide her toward an onstage bed, she pulled back.
Usher recognized the lack of chemistry, and backed off. He then asked the crowd: "I don't think she want to be on the stage, huh?", before completely stepping away and signaling for her to be removed from the stage.
The moment blew up on the internet, with many users slamming Cheyenne for her reserved reaction, and arguing that she should have never agreed to go up if she did not want to participate.
"Why would she go up there and play in that man face. Like girl," one user said, while a second reacted: "This is really embarrassing moment for her."
A third criticized: "She shouldn't have went. She did that on purpose. Whether you agree with their performances or not, they show you what they do all the time! She knew so she should have passed it on to the next girl. Smh."
Meanwhile, one user understood both sides: "Nothing wrong on either side. If she didn’t want Usher in her face like that, she’s shouldn’t have gotten up there. But also, Usher is a romanticized celebrity putting on a show, so he has the right to give her the boot if she isn’t playing ball."
Another speculated: "I don’t think his ego is hurt just as a dude in his right mind if I see my actions or advances are making a female uncomfortable im out we not chasing or making a woman feel like I’m on some type of mission."
Cheyenne issued a statement after receiving backlash and explained why she reacted the way she did.
She made it clear that she was more than happy to be seen by the crowd, even if she did not want to get overly physical with the singer.
"First off NOBODY is declining to go on stage," she wrote. "I looked good asf, you think I wasn’t going to let THOUSANDS of people see me?"
She explained that she and her mom had floor seats for the concert. Before the show began, the 'Love in This Club' musician's team approached them and upgraded them to the VIP section due to what she described as "pretty privileges".
However, the staff did not explain what her role would be later in the evening. "They don’t say who you’re going up there for!" she penned, pointing out that Chris Brown was also on the bill.
She then slammed the internet for their reaction, saying: "Y’all wanted me to go up there and f**k him atp?"
As backlash continued into Sunday, Cheyenne shared selfies captioned "Unbothered," making it clear she wasn't letting the online criticism spoil her experience.
She also took to her Instagram Stories to insist that her reserved reaction should not be mistaken for having a bad attitude.
"Y’all aren’t gonna get on the internet calling me out my name and disrespecting me and expect me to keep it cool!" she expressed. She added: "Don’t think that yall are gonna bully me about an experience that yall didn’t get!"
A few days later, Cheyenne doubled down during an interview with TMZ, admitting she would have reacted very differently if she had shared the moment with Brown instead.
“Me, solely, I went to the concert for Chris Brown, it’s nothing against Usher,” she said. "So, of course, it would have been a different reaction with Chris Brown...It wouldn’t have been the stiffness or whatever the internet is portraying."
She also took an unintentional dig at Usher by noting their age difference.
“I mean, I’ve been listening to his music since I was a little girl,” she said. “I know his music, but I can prefer one artist over the other.”
While the 'DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love' singer didn't directly respond to the incident, he did share three videos on his Instagram Story ahead of his concert in Birmingham, Alabama.
The clips showed him inside the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex and were captioned: "Birmingham Night 1" alongside two peace sign emojis and an eyes emoji.
He also paired the videos with his track 'Can U Handle It?'.
This isn't the first time Usher has found himself at the centre of conversation after serenading a fan on stage.
Two years ago, the singer made headlines after actress Keke Palmer attended one of his Las Vegas shows wearing a sheer black dress over a bodysuit.
Usher serenaded her with his hit 'There Goes My Baby' as the pair shared a playful but respectful dance.
After footage of the moment exploded across social media, Palmer's then-boyfriend and the father of her child, Darius Jackson, publicly criticized her outfit, tweeting: "It’s the outfit tho… you a mom."
The 'OMG' singer later addressed the viral moment, saying: "Every night I’m thinking about how the world now is going to react to this moment that I’ll have with whoever I’m choosing to sing to.
"But it was a pop moment, and it was fun to have at least conversation going, and we just keep it light. I don’t see anything negative happening in Las Vegas," he added.
Usher made a dig at the fan whom he kicked off stage during a steamy segment of his previous performance on The R&B Tour.
The 'Yeah!' artist had broken his silence following the awkward on-stage interaction that he had with the fan.
What was meant to be a steamy, intimate routine quickly transformed into a tense interaction when the fan appeared uncomfortable with the attention.
The incident occurred in Nashville during a stop on The R&B Tour, which the 47-year-old singer is co-headlining with Chris Brown.
The concertgoer has been identified as Gabrielle Cheyenne, and she attracted attention online following her noticeably awkward response to Usher’s choreography on Saturday (July 24).
While shirtless, Usher tried to get closer to the woman while singing to her, but she remained stiff and uncomfortable during the segment.
“I don’t think she want to be on the stage, huh?” Usher pointed out at the time - but now, he has issued a warning to future volunteers.
Speaking to the audience before inviting a female fan up onstage for another sensual performance of 'Can U Handle It?' on Tuesday night (July 28), he set out some rules.
Usher explained: “Now before we get started, don’t bring your ass up here if you don’t want to be here,” he stated at the Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
“God don’t like ugly. But he most certainly don’t feel too good about pretty privilege either,” he further stated.
Brown could be seen laughing at the request when the camera panned over to him, as many in the crowd likely were too.
But this time, when Usher brought a female concertgoer onstage, she put in a hell of a performance to put a show on for the crowd.
It was a stark contrast to the weekend, where Usher had to walk away mid-performance and wave his hands, signaling his production crew to remove her from the stage.
The viral fan spoke out after the incident on Saturday, claiming that it would have been completely different if Chris Brown had been the one dancing with her.
Gabrielle Cheyenne did not enjoy the intimate interaction, telling TMZ that she didn't mean any disrespect to Usher.
Instead, it was about her personal musical preference, as she revealed that she attended the event specifically to see the other headliner on the ticket.
“Me, solely, I went to the concert for Chris Brown; it’s nothing against Usher,” Cheyenne told the publication.
“So, of course, it would have been a different reaction with Chris Brown,” she continued. “It wouldn’t have been the stiffness or whatever the internet is portraying.”
She made it clear that her energy would have been entirely different if the 37-year-old Brown had been the one performing the steamy routines.
Chris Brown has raised some eyebrows after his performance at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York, after simulating sex with a fan.
The 'Loyal' artist is currently on tour with Usher as part of the R&B Tour across North America, featuring 33 dates and running from June to December this year.
In fact, Usher made headlines last month after bringing a female audience member up on stage to share a steamy moment, but it quickly turned awkward.
A shirtless Usher sang to the fan, later named as Gabrielle Cheyenne, as she appeared less than impressed, staying stiff and giving him a tight smile.
Despite the 'Yeah!' artist's best attempts to salvage the performance, he waved her off stage following the uncomfortable exchange, where she refused to join him on an onstage bed.
She later claimed that she was only at the show to see Brown.
Over the weekend, it was Brown who made headlines on their tour, though it wasn't for the same reason.
Unlike Usher, Brown sparked conversation online after getting up close and personal with a female fan onstage.
Like his tour buddy, the R&B artist usually invites an audience member up during his shows to share a charged moment during a rendition of his 2007 hit, 'Take You Down'.
And on Saturday night, Brown invited an eager fan up and held her up against a pole, tying her hands to it as he held her up.
The artist took it a step further, moving her up and down the pole as he thrust towards her, before starting to kiss her neck, which prompted cheers from the crowd.
That's not to say that she didn't enjoy it either, as she could be seen with a daring smile while letting out a moan as he laid one on her neck.
A seven-second clip of the exchange has gone viral on X, garnering over 8.3 million views, which has unsurprisingly resulted in thousands of comments being made.
If that wasn't enough, clips from other parts of the segment show Brown licking the sweat off her body while she's tied up.
One shocked X user commented: "Is this normal dancing or f***ing on broad daylight?" as another added: "Concerts have turn into soft p*rn yoo."
A third joked: "I see why that girl at the Usher show was p**sed she didn’t get Chris Brown looool," while someone else also quipped: "That’s how that one girl thought her night was gonna be but got Usher lmaooooooooo."
A different user asked: "So people pay to watch live action p*rnos?"
"People are literally getting f***ed on the f***ing stage bro," one disgruntled viewer wrote in the comments.
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