Above all else, Usher Raymond IV is a showman. The “Ruin” singer’s memorizing capabilities have been on full display in the last few years alone. Just look at the clips circulating from his record-setting My Way Residency in Las Vegas. But sometimes he’s so caught in the theatrics, he could overstep a few boundaries. Although Usher doesn’t find anything wrong with his passionate embrace of Alicia Keys during the Superbowl LVIII Halftime Show, he has voiced some regret over another performance.
On February 19, while chatting with Power 105.1 FM’s The Breakfast Club, Usher admitted that he crossed the line when he slapped Nicki Minaj’s butt back at the VMAs over a decade ago. As the pair performed their 2014 song “She Came To Give It To You,” off Usher’s album Hard II Love, he went overboard as he attempted to make Minaj’s derrière a focal point of the set.
“That was Jamaican culture,” he said. “So you gotta go to Jamaica. That was just a moment that was fun. By the way, it was me playing my bass, so I probably would’ve bumped my shoulder or my hand, but I had my bass in my hand, and I was playing, so I kind of bopped off her body a little bit. If you go back and look at the video, you’ll understand because I did it there for the first time. That was a little bit of Jamaican culture.”
Initially, Usher didn’t appear to be apologetic, but he eventually noticed the flaws in his actions. “I think I was reaching a bit when I smacked her, though,” he said. “I shouldn’t have smacked her butt. I shouldn’t have did that.”
On stage, Minaj visibly showed that she did not appreciate being inappropriately touched in that manner. Instead of making a scene during the performance, she took it to the booth taking a few jabs at him on her 2020 song, “Trollz” with 6ix9ine.
Watch the full interview above.
