Lionel Richie has criticised Usher and Chris Brown‘s joint live tour. Check out the video of the moment below.
The pair’s current North American co-headline trek, dubbed ‘The R&B Tour’, kicked off in late June. Usher has made headlines on the run, thanks to a sensual on stage routine with audience members.
Richie, who has been touring with Earth, Wind & Fire, took a moment during a recent concert to mock Usher and Brown.
“Usher and Chris Brown, see they [are] trying to do something new,” he said (via The Independent). “The Commodores with Earth, Wind & Fire, we were doing that back 40 years ago. Only difference is – between then and now – we didn’t go to jail.”
Richie then responded to the crowd’s applause and laughter by apologising for bringing up Brown’s legal history.
“I’m sorry. They’re fine Christian men,” he went on. That’s right. See, we didn’t have that Instagram, and that TikTok and that go out and tell a lie and then go post it. What the hell was that?”
Brown was notably convicted for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. The singer was sentenced to five years’ probation and 180 days of community labour. He served 108 days of his 131-day prison sentence in 2014. Following his release, Brown vowed to get “back to the music and the fans”.
He has since been accused of assault multiple times. Last month, he pleaded guilty to affray over an incident in a London nightclub, where he was accused of striking a man over the head with a glass bottle.
Brown was initially remanded in custody before being released on conditional bail after agreeing to lodge a £5million security with the court, allowing him to continue his tour.
He later joked about his time in custody during the opening UK show in Manchester last summer, telling the crowd: “Thank you for coming and supporting me… And thank you to the jail. It was really nice.”
In 2021, Brown was under police investigation after a woman alleged he had “smacked the back of her head so hard her weave came off”. However, this case was ultimately dismissed due to “insufficient evidence”.
There has been ongoing backlash around Brown continuing to tour and sell out shows after his assault conviction and numerous controversies. Brown sued Warner Bros. for $500million in 2025, following allegations of sexual assault put forward in a recent documentary. His legal team called the claims “false”, saying the doc was “full of lies and deception”.
Meanwhile, Usher recently warned fans not to join him on stage at ‘The R&B Tour’ unless they were comfortable taking part in his sensual live routine, after an awkward encounter went viral.
In other news, the singer has responded denying claims that he was replaced by a body double at one of the concerts.
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