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Usher has spent years gathering good will, which only grew exponentially thanks to his Las Vegas residency and rocking the Super Bowl halftime show. However, Ursher has massively played himself after he was spotted kicking it with Russell Simmons in Bali.
In case you’re unaware, Simmons essentially ran off to Bali after he was accused by multiple women of sexual assault. Although Simmons has denied the claims (and former Def Jam exec Drew Dixon produced a whole documentary detailing her allegations), the theory is he skipped town to avoid prosecution. Thus, the Hip-Hop pioneer has been persona non-grata for many.
Nevertheless, there goes Usher seen kicking it with various people including Simmons during a trip to Bali. It’s worth noting that Usher, perhaps knowing better, didn’t share the pics (and video, too) himself. However, Russell gladly took to Instagram to share the good times he was apparently having with Usher. The R&B crooner’s trademark smile in the pics reveals he clearly wasn’t a hostage.
Considering Usher can thank Sean “Diddy” Combs, who has also been accused of sexual assault by multiple women, among the execs instrumental to his early success, being spotted having a good ol’ time with Simmons is not the best of looks. Another exec who had a hand in Usher’s rise was LA Reid, who has also been accused of sexual assault by Dixon as well.
This is not a trend Usher need be associating himself with. We’re not overreacting, you can peep the reactions below. To say that the criticism is rolling thick would be an understatement.