Usher has seen the online frenzy that was sparked by his Super Bowl duet with Alicia Keys, but he appears to be laughing it off.
In footage from his recent appearance on radio show “The Breakfast Club” that was posted online Monday, the singer addressed some of the criticism he received for this month’s record-breaking halftime show performance, which featured a surprise cameo from Keys.
Social media users had expressed disapproval over the onstage chemistry between Usher and Keys — who are both in committed relationships with other people — as they performed the 2004 hit “My Boo.” Usher hugged Keys from behind at one point in the show, which some saw as crossing a boundary.
But Usher said that he has since shared a laugh about the online reactions with Keys’ husband, rapper and music producer Swizz Beatz.
“Absolutely we laughed about it,” Usher told “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne tha God.
He also said that “in no way” should any part of the performance be viewed as “bad” or “perverted.”
“It was literally about having fun because of a song that me and Alicia made many years ago. And we celebrated because of the legacy of it,” he added. “No disrespect to anybody or anything like that.”
The “U Don’t Have To Call” singer previously made headlines on multiple occasions in 2023 for serenading other famous women — including those who were in relationships at the time — during his Las Vegas residency.
Usher wed his longtime partner, record executive Jennifer Goicoechea, after the Super Bowl on Feb. 11. Keys and Swizz Beatz have been married since 2010.
But the rapper didn’t seem bothered by Usher’s viral performance with Keys.
Swizz Beatz celebrated the iconic moment, writing on Instagram last week that the naysayers were “talking about the wrong damn thing !!!”
He said the performance was “amazing,” and he called “My Boo” a “classic” song.
“We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history,” he wrote.