Usher has broken his silence on his controversial hug with Alicia Keys at the Super Bowl and also addressed slapping his head off Nicki Minaj’s butt.
Appearing on The Breakfast Club on Monday (February 19), the R&B legend spoke about the viral moment that drew criticism from the likes of Boosie Badazz and Cam’ron due to Keys being married to Swizz Beatz.
Setting the record straight, Usher said: “In no way should anything done there be viewed as bad or perverted or anything like that. It was literally about having fun because of a song that me and Alicia made many years ago. And we celebrated because of the legacy of it. And no disrespect to anybody or anything like that.”
Charlamagne Tha God then asked Usher if he, Keys and Swizz have shared a laugh about the reactions to the hug.
The “Caught Up” star replied: “Absolutely we laughed about it. It’s crazy how people [focused on] that. It’s all about how you present things, man. But it’s all love.”
Usher also discussed slapping his head off Nicki Minaj’s rear when they performed together at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, which went viral again after his Super Bowl performance.
“That was Jamaican culture. You gotta go to Jamaica, you know what I’m saying? That was just a moment that was fun. And by the way, that was me playing my bass so I would have probably bumped my shoulder or my hand, but I had my bass in my hand so I just bopped off her body a little bit.
“Go back and look at the video and you’ll understand ’cause I did it there for the first time. That was a little bit of Jamaican culture.
However, Usher admitted that he was “reaching a bit” when he slapped Nicki’s butt and said: I shouldn’t have smacked her butt.”
usher was so annoying for this 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Sy9Nc6QgD8
— savvy 🎀 (@onikarchives) February 11, 2024
During the interview, Usher was also asked about The Boondocks episode where he was satirized as someone the ladies fall head over heels for.
“I hit Regina [King, who voiced the main characters in the show] about that. They’re crazy. It was funny but I guess that’s the truth of the other side of what happens — that’s the Usher effect, I guess!”
Shortly after Usher’s Super Bowl performance, Swizz Beatz said on Instagram that he had no issue with the singer dancing with his wife.
“Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium,” he said.
“Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants ! Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic. We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history.”
Boosie Badazz, on the other hand, went on a rant at Usher for his antics during the performance and accused the singer of putting his “nut sack” on Keys.
