The 'Coming Home' artist reflected on some of his outrageous stage moments, including one he regrets from 2014.
Usher is known for being a showman to the nth degree, but even the 45-year-old crooner can admit that he has moments he regrets. During Monday's episode of The Breakfast Club, the recent Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show headliner reflected on a resurfaced clip of him smacking Nicki Minaj's butt during their 2014 MTV Video Music Awards performance.
"Have you seen some of your old moments, like when you were onstage with Nicki Minaj and you were head buttin' her a**? Why was you so unhinged?" host Charlamagne Tha God asked him of the performance, which also included Usher slapping the "Super Freaky Girl" rapper's butt.
During the performance of their 2014 collab, "She Came to Give It to You," Usher played the bass while on his knees as Minaj, 41, rapped. At one point, Usher bumps his shoulder and his head against Minaj's bottom to the beat before getting up and spanking her.
As Usher told Charlamagne and his co-host, Jess Hilarious, he was "inspired" by Jamaica's dance culture.
"That was Jamaican culture! So you gotta go to Jamaica. That was just a moment that was fun," he quipped, initially trying to laugh off the moment. "By the way, it was me playing my bass, so I probably would've bumped my shoulder or my hand, but I had my bass in my hand and I was playing, so I kind of bopped off her body a little bit. If you go back and look at the video, you'll understand because I did it there for the first time."
But the singer ultimately conceded that he was "reaching a bit" with the impromptu spanking onstage.
"I think I was reaching a bit when I smacked her, though," Usher admitted. "I shouldn't have smacked her. I shouldn't have did that."
Jess chimed in, referencing Usher talking about supporting fellow Black artists earlier in the interview, "See, you gotta lift her up!"
"I was lifting!" the singer playfully responded.
The clip of the duo's duet resurfaced on social media after Usher's Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance, in which the singer brought Alicia Keys onstage to perform their 2004 hit, "My Boo."
The performance sparked a lot of speculation regarding the intimacy of the number, with jokes and memes suggesting Keys' husband, Swizz Beatz, should be concerned about the performance.
Despite the fan jokes and insinuations, Beatz wasn't fazed by all the chatter and chose to celebrate his wife's big moment after her halftime show performance.
"Y'all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️🚨😂😂😮💨😮💨😮💨😮💨," the producer wrote on Instagram. "Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants ! Congrats @usher and my love @aliciakeys that song is a classic 🤍 We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history ✌🏽 Go see GIANTS at @brooklynmuseum it’s open until July blessings 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽."
And, as the "Love in This Club" singer explained to the Breakfast Club hosts, there's no bad blood between the trio.
"No, it was literally about having fun because of a song that me and Alicia made many years ago," Usher explained. "We celebrated because of the legacy of it, and [meant] no disrespect to anybody."
When asked if he's had a chance to speak with Keys and Beatz about the performance -- and the subsequent flood of memes, jokes and innuendo that followed -- Usher said, "Absolutely! We've laughed about it... it's all love."
Besides, Usher is too busy celebrating his recent nuptials to bother with fan-made rumors!
The "Caught Up" singer and his longtime girlfriend, Jennifer "Jenn" Goicoechea, officially tied the knot just after Usher took to the Super Bowl stage inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 11.
People was the first to report the news after the couple filed for a marriage license with Las Vegas's Clark County clerk on Feb. 8.
Usher's rep later confirmed the happy news to ET, saying, "We can confirm that USHER and Jennifer Goicoechea took the next step in their relationship and did get married on Sunday night in Las Vegas surrounded by close friends and family. They both look forward to continuing to raise their children together surrounded by love and thank everyone for the well wishes."
Usher and Goicoechea have been linked since they were first photographed together in 2016. They then sparked rumors of a romance when they were seen at producer Keith Thomas' birthday celebration in Atlanta, Georgia, in June 2019. The couple confirmed their relationship when Usher was photographed kissing the Miami-born music executive backstage at the October 2019 Hollywood Bowl.
The eight-time GRAMMY winner and Goicoechea have since welcomed two children together, daughter Sovereign Bo, 3, and son Sire Castrello, 2.
Watch Usher's full interview with The Breakfast Club ahead.
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