Usher Clears the Air About His “Intimate” Embrace With Alicia Keys

This year’s Super Bowl halftime show was performed by none other than Usher. The R&B singer lit up the stage with his crazy-impressive dance moves, an extravagant stage setting, and a lineup of some of the best artists in the biz. One of the performances that stood out the most was “Boo,” featuring a duet with Alicia Keys.

During the performance, the 45-year-old star was seen embracing Alicia closely from behind, raising many eyebrows, especially because of Keys’ long-time partner Swizz Beatz. Keys and Beatz share children together, 13-year-old Egypt and 19-year-old Genesis. Well, it turns out that spectators may have been exaggerating the meaning of that “intimate” embrace.

“It was literally about having fun because of a song me and Alicia made many years ago and we celebrate it because of the legacy of it,” Usher explained on The Breakfast Club. 

He further explained that his gesture of affection meant “no disrespect.” “It’s crazy how people think. It is all about how you present things, man, it’s all about love,” he further clarified. 

Alicia’s partner, Swizz Beatz, set the record straight and shut down any inappropriate comments. He also addressed how fans were not paying attention to the right aspects of the performance. 

He captioned an Instagram post, “Y’all talking about the wrong damn thing !!! y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️🚨😂😂😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 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 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽.”

The carousel had images of Keys by the piano onstage, showing off her red outfit and cape while Usher held her from behind. The “OMG” singer revealed that he and Beatz also shared a nice moment over the fans’ reactions to “My Boo.” “Absolutely, we laughed about it,” Usher confirmed. 

Some fans also pointed out that Keys’ voice cracked in the beginning. However, the YouTube upload of her National Football League (NFL) performance has since been edited.

Some of the other performers who joined Usher during the Super Bowl halftime show included Jermaine Dupri, H.E.R., Will.i.am, Ludacris, and Lil Jon. Usher confirmed that Justin Bieber was approached, however, things didn’t pan out. 

“I honor and recognize the fact that my brother… I think it might have just been that he’s just wanting to tell a different story right now, and I did understand that. We did have a brief conversation, and we’re gonna do something else in the future,” Usher revealed. 

Who knows what the future holds? Until then, fans can only hope Usher and Bieber get together for a song as iconic as “Somebody to Love.” 

But back to Usher and Keys—it seems their fans have decided that their performance will go down in history as one of the most controversial numbers, even though the singers claim that their embrace was purely platonic.