RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The internet apparently doubted the real “U-S-H-E-R R-A-Y-M-O-N-D” was in the house this weekend at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where the singer was on the bill for two nights with Chris Brown on their co-headlining Raymond & Brown Tour Aug. 7-8.
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A rumor that Usher was replaced by a clone for his performance in East Ruthorford, N.J., Friday night was rampant enough to elicit a response from Usher himself ( or was it? ).
Several crying-laughing emojis were involved when Usher seemingly hit the comments section of footage from his own concert this weekend to address the conspiracy theory, which was being talked about on videos with hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms.
“Ya’ll are funny…clone? They can’t clone this??” he wrote in one comment, saved and shared on @therandbtour on Instagram , a Raymond & Brown Tour update account that keeps fans in the know about what’s happening at each date on tour.
Another comment shows Usher quipping, “How ya’ll come up with this? AI ain’t that advanced.”
Meanwhile, folks on TikTok and X were side-eyeing clips from the show. “I’m confused. I see Usher but then I don’t,” one person remarked of the performer’s moves on a popular TikTok post , while others found themselves caught up with zooming in on cell phone video to track tattoo placement, or speculating that his cheekbones didn’t look like Usher’s. Others found it suspicious that the talent didn’t remove his sunglasses. Someone joked that it wasn’t Usher, it was “Unsure.”
Something just must’ve been in the air on Friday, which saw a delayed start due to thunderstorms but proceeded to deliver “a seamless performance,” Billboard ‘s Carl Lamarre said in his factual recap of top moments from the show . “The three-hour bonanza was littered with dance numbers, acrobatic moves, special guests ranging from Lil Baby to 50 Cent and, of course, picture-perfect moments of Brown and Usher crossing paths onstage to deliver their classic collaborations.”
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