Usher’s friend Da Brat has insisted the singer didn’t have a “heated exchange” with his former protégé Justin Bieber at an Oscars after-party.
It was recently reported that the Yeah! hitmaker and Baby singer had an intense verbal altercation at Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Oscars after-party at famed Los Angeles hotspot Chateau Marmont on 15 March.
Sources told TMZ that Usher went up to Justin with “energy and anger”, and the pair got into a “heated exchange” at the star-studded bash.
During an appearance on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show, Usher’s friend Da Brat insisted that the reports were “exaggerated”.
“I spoke to Usher, and he said, ‘This is an exaggeration of the conversation,'” the rapper said. “He’s been nothing but supportive of plenty of issues that Justin Bieber has had throughout the years and y’all can actually check the records for all that. He has been.”
“Justin is on his own journey, dealing with his own reality that he’s created,” she continued. “Usher wishes him nothing but the best, and they have no hostility towards each other.”
The Ghetto Love hitmaker, real name Shawntae Harris-Dupart, insisted that Usher and Justin “definitely love each other”.
“People just take stuff out of context when they see something and they run with it, and I’m just here to say that is not the issue,” she added. “They are definitely cool with each other, and they have love and they support each other.”
Usher and manager Scooter Braun were instrumental in launching Justin’s career. Scooter discovered the Sorry singer on YouTube when he was 13 and eventually signed him to his and Usher’s joint record label.
Usher and Justin collaborated on the songs Somebody to Love (Remix) and First Dance. Most recently, he appeared on the remix of the pop star’s song Peaches alongside Ludacris and Snoop Dogg in 2021.
According to TMZ, the mentor and mentee duo were last spotted out and about together in 2022. Justin ended his business partnership with Scooter in 2023.
