Last month, Usher caused controversy online when he shared a slow dance with actress Keke Palmer at one of his concerts during his Las Vegas residency. Social media reacted in a frenzy over the video depicting Usher serenading Palmer, who dons a see-through gown, but with a bodysuit on underneath.
Videos by American Songwriter
Usher has now spoken out about the incident during an interview with People. “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,” the “Love in this Club” singer said. “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.
“I think everybody’s vision or a version of what they felt happened there just leads you back to just really having a good time in Las Vegas. And that’s what I hope came out of it,” Usher added. “Rather, it was a conversation of what was going on with us having fun in front of the audience or conversation about that song.”
[RELATED: Usher Talks Reuniting with Kimora Lee Simmons at Vegas Residency]
Among the people online displeased with Usher and Palmer’s behavior onstage is the latter’s boyfriend, Darius Jackson. “It’s the outfit tho… you a mom,” Jackson originally tweeted. “We live in a generation where a man of the family doesn’t want the wife & mother to his kids to showcase booty cheeks to please others & he gets told how much of a hater he is. This is my family & my representation. I have standards & morals to what I believe. I rest my case.”
In the same interview with People, Usher discussed his new song “Good Good,” which also features 21 Savage and Summer Walker. “R&B has always been about the service, and that service is either conversation of love, the songs you make love to, the songs you fall in love to [and] the way that you choose to articulate yourself in relationships,” Usher told the outlet.
“‘Good Good’ is about being in a relationship with someone and ultimately letting them know, ‘Yo, we don’t have to be enemies.’ We might not be good good, meaning we may have not made it to forever, meaning we may not have been the relationship that was going to last forever in the way that you thought, but we can be good,” Usher added.
Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Dolby Live at Park MGM
