Fans Are Claiming Usher Skipped His New York Performance and Sent in a Lookalike Instead

Sending in a lookalike is an extremely bold move from an artist. This is especially true for such a dynamic artist like Usher. You have to trust that an impersonator can not only look like you but also sing like you. He’s not the kind of artist to lip-sync his lyrics, so the slightest difference in vocals will likely set anyone off. Not to mention his dance moves, it would take a serious copycat to emulate him.

But New Yorkers are feeling pretty cheated out of their money when Chris Brown and Usher visited town on their R&B stadium tour. In a video circulating on social media, fans are demanding their money back after watching an alleged lookalike sing his records.

However, his voice seems a little… off. Moreover, the stage presence doesn’t look right in the slightest. It looks like just some dude strutting around stage doing great Usher karaoke. Consequently, the person behind the video was laughing off their reasonable outrage, saying that they can’t fool New York and they want their money back.

The jokes flooded X as well. One person noted how people usually do AI for these kinds of scams. Instead, the “U Got It Bad” star “went old school with the fake content methods.” The funniest comment saw someone say he looked like “U-Sure?”

Usher’s Been in the News for Other Controversial Moments This Year

Usher’s massive concerts have been at the forefront of a lot of controversy lately. For instance, back in July 2026, the R&B legend had a steamy segment where he sang “Can U Handle It?” for a special lady in the audience. One woman attending in Nashville was picked out as the lucky participant, but she looked extremely disinterested on stage.

Sweaty and shirtless, Usher was just providing a show for her and the crowd. But her awkward demeanor threw the entire interaction off as he slowly backed away and raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think she wants to be on stage,” he said before waving her off to security.

In a show in Birmingham, Alabama later in the month, he responded to the viral moment by urging the crowd not to come up if they would rather not participate. “Now before we get started, don’t bring ya a** up here if you don’t wanna be here,” Usher told the crowd. “God don’t like ugly, but he most certainly don’t feel too good about pretty privilege either.”

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)