It looks like Usher is trading the stage for the courtroom. This time, it’s over a hefty $700,000 he claims he’s still owed from a restaurant venture that never took off in Atlanta. Word on the street is things got a little too real, a little too fast.
The R&B legend filed a lawsuit in Fulton County on Friday, and the defendants include some familiar faces: the one and only Bryan-Michael Cox, the producer behind classics like “Burn” and “U Got It Bad.” According to the lawsuit, Cox and industry vets Keith Thomas, Charles Hughes, and entertainment attorney Alcide Honoré approached Usher last year with a plan to launch Homage ATL, a restaurant and lounge in Buckhead.
Now, this spot was supposed to take over the old Ocean Prime location on Piedmont Road, a prime piece of real estate that’s been sitting empty since 2015. So much potential!
At first, Usher wasn’t looking to invest. Instead, he agreed to loan the group $1.7 million, wiring the funds to a trust account back in January, according to court documents.
But months passed… and no restaurant, no property acquisition, absolutely no progress. It seems the heat in the kitchen was nonexistent.
By summer, Usher wanted his money back, ASAP. In August, he received $1 million, but the remaining $700,000 never surfaced.
The lawsuit alleges that attorney Honoré admitted the funds were used for “other purposes,” and that repaying the remaining sum wasn’t “that easy.” Sounds shady, right?
Now, Usher is taking legal action, seeking a staggering $4.9 million in damages – $700,000 for each of the seven claims listed in the suit, including breach of contract, fraud, unjust enrichment, and more.
As of Tuesday, none of the defendants have filed responses or counterclaims. The silence is deafening.
This courtroom battle marks a serious rift between Usher and a longtime collaborator, and with such a significant amount of money and history at stake, this case is one to keep your eyes on. Stay tuned, folks – things are about to get interesting.
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For Education and discussion purposes. Please note no copyright infringement is intended, was recorded on BlkCosmo’s own equipment, and we do not own nor claim to own any of the original recordings used in this video and intend to use this as ‘fair use’.
