Usher Nashville fan says she did not reject onstage serenade
A Nashville concert clip showed Usher ending a close-up serenade, and fan Gabrielle Cheyenne is now answering the online pile-on.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
An Usher Nashville fan who went viral after a close onstage serenade ended early is pushing back after viewers claimed she wanted no part of the moment.
Video from Usher’s Saturday night show in Nashville, published by TMZ, shows the singer shirtless and leaning toward a seated woman during an intimate stage bit. As the crowd watched, he appeared to notice that she was giving a restrained reaction.
Usher then stepped away and told the audience, “I don't think she wanna be onstage, y'all,” according to the video cited by TMZ. The moment cut off the steamy exchange and quickly turned into internet debate fuel.
What happened with Usher and the fan in Nashville?
According to TMZ, the woman in the clip was identified as Gabrielle Cheyenne. The video showed Usher attempting one of his up-close concert serenades while she sat onstage, then stopping when her response appeared muted.
The clip spread online after the show, with some viewers criticizing Cheyenne for seeming to pass up a moment many fans would have welcomed. TMZ reported that the reaction included people mocking her for how she behaved while in front of the arena crowd.
Cheyenne later responded in social media posts, according to TMZ, saying “NOBODY” declined to go onstage. She also pointed to the fact that she had been shown on the venue’s jumbotrons, saying she had no issue being seen by thousands of people while looking good.
Cheyenne said she and her mother originally had floor seats before members of Usher’s team approached them and moved them to VIP, TMZ reported. She also said she was not told which performer she would be joining onstage.
Usher is currently touring with Chris Brown, according to TMZ, which Cheyenne referenced while explaining why she did not know what to expect before the stage moment began.
How did Gabrielle Cheyenne respond?
Cheyenne rejected the idea that she had turned down the spotlight, according to TMZ’s account of her posts. She also mocked people who apparently expected her to get more physical with Usher in front of the arena.
In another post described by TMZ, Cheyenne said her attitude only becomes “nasty” when she is provoked. She described herself as quiet in real life while saying she would not allow strangers to bully her over an experience they did not have.
Her message was that the viral read on the moment missed the mark: she was not refusing to be onstage, and she was not interested in performing the reaction that some fans expected from her.
Usher has not been reported by TMZ as issuing any further public comment on the exchange beyond what was captured in the concert video.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.