Usher was speaking out about the mysterious disappearance of his tweets following the arrest of his friend and former mentor, Sean “Diddy” Combs, on sex trafficking charges.
Over the weekend, nearly all posts, media and replies on the “Yeah!” singer’s X account (formerly Twitter) appeared to be wiped, catching the attention of fans.
But Usher, 45, claimed on Sunday that his account had been “hacked.”
Usher and Diddy at VH1’s Big in 2004. Getty Images
“Accounts got hacked and people are still using them!” he tweeted.
“See you tonight at the Intuit Dome,” he added, referring to his sold-out show in Inglewood, California on his Past Presents Future Tour.
As of Monday morning, all of Usher’s posts from his X account appear to be visible again.
Usher’s X account. X/@usher Usher tweeted that he’d been hacked.
Combs, 54, discovered Usher and helped turn the “My Boo” singer into a megastar, and the two even lived together in New York City when Usher was a teenager in the ’90s.
Usher has not yet commented on Combs’ recent arrest. The record executive was taken into custody in New York last week, where prosecutors say he participated in sex trafficking and “freak off” parties. He has been denied bail and is on suicide watch in a Brooklyn jail.
Diddy and Usher perform at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. WireImage Diddy, Usher and Rozonda ‘Chili’ Thomas arrive at the post-VMA party. WireImage
A recent lawsuit filed by Dawn Richards, the ex-wife of Danity Kane, accused Usher and Ne-Yo of being witnesses to Combs’ physical abuse of his ex-wife, Cassie Ventura.
Ventura, who dated Combs on and off from 2007 to 2018, filed a civil lawsuit against the music mogul last year, alleging rape and abuse. Combs settled with Ventura the following day.
In May, shocking surveillance video was released showing Combs punching Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016. Combs later apologized for his actions in a now-deleted Instagram video.
Diddy at the 2022 BET Awards. Getty Images Diddy with his lawyers in court. Reuters
After federal agents investigated Combs’ sex trafficking allegations and searched her homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March, an interview with Usher resurfaced in which he spoke about living with Combs when he was 14 years old.
In a 2016 interview with Howard Stern, Usher said he saw “very strange things” happening at Combs’ New York mansion at the time.
Usher attends the 2024 Black Music Action Coalition Gala in Beverly Hills. WireImage Diddy performs on the tour on September 21. Courtesy of Getty Images for Live Nation
“It was pretty wild. It was crazy. There were some very strange things going on that I didn’t necessarily understand,” Asher said.
He added: “I got a chance to see some stuff… I don’t even know what I was looking at and if I fully understood it.”
Usher and Diddy at the 2003 Clive Davis Grammy Awards Pre-Party. WireImage
Usher called Combs his “brother” during the interview.
Usher and Diddy at the 2002 American Music Awards afterparty. WireImage
In 2004, Usher told Rolling Stone magazine that when he lived with Combs, “there were always girls around.”
“I’d open the door and see someone doing it, or I’d see some people in the room having an orgy,” he revealed. “I had no idea what was going to happen.”