Usher is upset at rumors that he was trying to sell pictures of his infant son, Usher Raymond V. He was eager to defend his wife, Tameka, and wanted to set the record straight. “In no way would I ever pimp out my child for money,” Usher told Page Six. “I am livid that people talk about my child,” Usher told us. In fact, he has posed – free of charge – with his son for an “incredible” Father’s Day cover for Essence Magazine he says. “What makes you a man more than being a father to your child? I recognize I gave anonymity away when I became an artist, but to have people try to paint a horrible picture of what’s so beautiful – it’s obvious someone is trying to stop something so beautiful.”

Additionally, Tameka has been blamed for firing most of Usher’s music team and for not getting along with his mother, Jonetta Patton. Usher defends his wife by saying, “I can stand by her as a man loving my wife and being there for my child . . . Opinions are like [bleep]holes. Everybody’s got one. What I will say is, this is my wife and I would hope that [people] would respect my wife and my marriage and who I have chosen to spend my life with.”
Usher is also upset that people are saying his album won’t do well this time around. He fumed, “It was just finished on Friday! And no one but a few international journalists have heard it yet. Everybody responded very well to it. ” “They noted that it was very courageous to take this direction in my music . . . They called it timeless.”

In addition to Essence, Usher will grace the covers of Entertainment Weekly and Vibe and has already booked a coveted slot on “Saturday Night Live.”