Usher’s Mother ‘Applauds’ His Independence

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Usher’s mother “applauds” his decision to fire her as his manager in 2007.

The R&B star decided to end his professional relationship with Jonetta Patton shortly after announcing his engagement to Tameka Foster. There were rumours Tameka had pressurised him into the decision as she had a temperamental relationship with Jonetta, but Usher’s mother bears him no ill will – she was rehired in 2008.

“I’ve been with him holding his hand since the age of 13. So he kind of wanted to step out and do his own thing as a man and I applaud him for that,” Jonetta said in VH1 show Usher: Behind the Music.

Usher also opened up about the situation, discussing how it affected him. Usher and Tameka married in 2007 and have two sons together, Usher V, two, and 18-month-old Naviyd. Usher filed for divorce last year, saying he and Tameka had lived separate lives for many months.

He has now confirmed his mother never got on well with Tameka. “The relationship between me and Tameka, uh, definitely bothered my mother… She never chooses to speak about it, but, I think that she just didn’t approve of it because she didn’t want to,” he explained.

Usher spoke about his father in the show, who passed away in 2008. The pair were estranged and the 31-year-old admits their relationship was hard to deal with, as he always wanted them to be close.

“I can remember still wondering, 'Am I not good enough? Does he not want to know me? Does he know we have the same name? Why didn't he want to call me or come see me? Does he think about me?'” he recalled.

Usher famously split from TLC star Chili in 2003, after he was unfaithful – something he still bitterly regrets. He wrote songs about his feelings in the aftermath, which made up his album Confessions, released in 2004. Chili was not a fan of the record, as it allowed people an insight into her personal life.

“I hated that album," she said. "You know, because I just, I hated what it stood for. I hated that it was blowing up because people were thinking, 'Oh my God, this is all about their relationship,' it was just too much. It was a lot for, it was too much for me to handle.”