‘I Didn’t Know It Would Happen’: Usher Comes Clean About Fake Money Controversy and What Motivated His Stunt
Usher is coming clean about his “Ush Bucks.” Two weeks ago he was caught up in a bit of controversy online after an exotic dancer called him out for throwing fake money with his face on it in the club. But the “U Got It Bad” singer can explain.
On April 12 social media was going crazy after The Dancers Resource Instagram page posted a message from an exotic dancer that called Usher out for tipping with fake money. What made it worse was that the bills had Usher’s face plastered on the,. The dancer called Usher’s actions a “level of f-ckery” and said he was “so disrespectful” and “so foul.” The bash fest continued in the caption where it read, “NO F**CKINGGGG WAY danced all night for usher and this is what he tipped her with?!!! – see updated post.”
However, the “Confessions” singer has offered a rationale for throwing fake money in the club. It was promotion for his Las Vegas Residency, he told Billboard on April 23. “The idea behind Usher Bucks was really as a way of promoting the residency. And since then, there has been more conversations, thus proving roads lead to Las Vegas. Stay tuned. We’ve been working on the merchandise for the night and that was the start of it.”
While some may be mad at Usher for his Ush Bucks, others are super excited to see him perform in Las Vegas. He was initially scheduled to only perform 12 dates from July 16 to Jan. 1 but said that he felt he needed to add more concert dates to the highly anticipated event. After the tickets were quickly sold out, he opened up six additional performance dates in August to allow more of his fans to see him.
“We’re getting ready to do something that I’ve always wanted to do and I didn’t know that it would happen at this juncture of my life. This is really a celebration because we’re coming from a year of being off,” the 42-year-old told the magazine.
Since this has been a dream for the eight-time Grammy-winning singer, he is more than excited about performing at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. And while he’s thrilled about it, he’s still not spilling details about what his audience can expect from his shows. The only thing he gave hints about is what type of music he will perform in his set. “I promise the classics and also new stuff. It’s about celebrating the years about celebrating the records, and celebrating the ones that brought us all together. And also to introduce new ones.”
The six new dates Usher is adding in August are Aug. 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, and 14.