In a new interview, Usher cleared up a longstanding rumor that he was once Beyoncé’s nanny. Appearing on Shannon Sharpe’s YouTube show Club Shay Shay ahead of his upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, Usher downplayed the caregiving role he played for his fellow pop-R&B star.
Torward the end of the interview (about 53:00 above), Sharpe asks directly, “I read that you were Beyoncé’s nanny. Is that true? Were you Beyoncé’s nanny?”
“First of all, I’d be a ‘manny,'” Usher jokes (look, he grew up in a different era). “Nah, I wasn’t Beyoncé’s nanny. Daryl Simmons had a group by the name of The Dolls, and they came to Atlanta for the first time. This is before Destiny’s Child became Destiny’s Child. I think I looked over them while they was doing something in the house; I had to watch over them ’cause I was like the, you know, the authority — ’cause I guess I was the teenager at the time.”
Sharpe then wonders if Usher could foresee Beyoncé’s future success, using his discovery of Justin Bieber as evidence of his eye for talent. Usher plays it humbly, pointing out that Destiny’s Child, as a group, is still successful collectively. But he does note that even those around him would say they could see that Beyoncé was special.
There’s a lot of insight in the interview, from Usher detailing the preparation it takes to remain at the top of his game for so long to revealing tidbits about alternative timelines within the music industry where he and Jay-Z were in a supergroup. Check out the full interview up top.
