usher (49 posts)

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The paper trail may have been long but at least they're all signed.

Usher and Tameka Foster finalized their divorce on Wednesday.

The star first made his confessions filed for divorce in June, citing "irreconcilable differences" and declaring they had lived apart for nearly a year and that the marriage was "irretrievably broken."

The 31-year-old star married the stylist in August 2007, and their son, Usher Raymond V, was born a few months later. Their second son, Naviyd Ely Raymond, arrived in December 2008.

Usher filed for joint custody, but the arrangements have not been made public.

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They aren't the only ones to call it quits this year. Keep up in our Big Celebrity Splits gallery.

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Is it just us, or has Usher been taking courses at the Andy Samberg School of Songwriting?

Either way, he knows how to drive his point home: The man is "ready to sign them papers."

This, at least, according to the aptly titled "Papers," a new tune released online by the R&B mastermind this morning, in which he discusses his pending divorce from Tameka Foster and gives a bit of lyrical insight fresh for the mining for fans and gossip hounds alike.

Oh, and all those persistent rumors about his marriage putting a strain on his relationship with his mom? As tends to be the case, they were persistent for a reason.

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Weird? A little. Cyclical? Definitely. Appropriately mythology-building? As if you would expect anything less from the Jacksons.

A source close to the Jackson family confirmed to E! News that Michael Jackson will be finally be laid to rest in Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Cemetery on Aug. 29 at 10 a.m., more than two months after his death and on what would have been his 51st birthday.

Never one to go small, the source added that Jackson's burial will indeed be fit for a king, as rather than a traditional burial, his body will instead be interred in a specially-built mausoleum on the cemetery's grounds.

(So much for an unmarked grave—announcing the exact date, time and location of his burial, to say nothing of what will no doubt be a less than humble tomb, more or less renders any privacy concerns moot.)

All the Jackson family members are expected to be in attendance for the service, which will precede yet another posthumous honor for the King of Pop.

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Oh sure, the end of a celebrity romance can be sad. Even, like, way sad. But the demolition of one smoking-hot star unit also means opportunity: double the dating drama, double the fun!

So after Kim Kardashian spiked her running back, Reggie Bush, this week, we can't think of a better way to inject some cheer into our fave E! starlet than to hook a girl up. Like any good friend would, right?

We have a few ideas about who Kim K. should get with next to, you know, help dry those eyes. At all those parties.

You have a better idea—who isn't John Mayer? Drop him in the comments!

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See who Khloé, Kourtney and Kim krush on in our Kardashian Krushes galleries.

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Tameka Raymond says she didn't see it coming.

Usher's soon to be ex-wife states in a new court filing that she and the R&B star have not been separated since July 2008 and, in fact, were "intimately together" less than a week before he started divorce proceedings.

She had "every reason to believe her marriage was intact," her attorney stated in documents filed Monday in Atlanta.

But since it wasn't, Tameka now wants to make sure that her estranged husband takes care of all of her legal fees pertaining to the split and continues to support his family financially, per the filing.

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The Bank Nightclub

Tameka Raymond very well may have been a loyal wife. Just not since last summer.

According to divorce documents filed by Usher on Friday and obtained today by E! News, the couple has been separated since July 2008—meaning that while he is seeking a divorce nearly two years after getting married, he and his estranged missus logged a mere 11 months together as husband and wife (loyal or otherwise) before going their separate ways.

"The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken," read the documents, filed in Georgia's Fulton County Superior Court.

"There is no reasonable hope of reconciliation."

That's one opinion. Wonder what the detectives apparently hired to trail the singer think…

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Time will tell if there's love in this courtroom, but a lawyer for Usher's suddenly estranged wife is making clear from the get-go that his client had no love for anyone other than the R&B star during their marriage.

Tameka Raymond's attorney is preemptively nipping in the bud any theories that either infidelity or a third party played a part in the duo's decision to divorce.

"She's a great mom," Randy Kessler said. "She's been a loyal wife. She's trying her best to take the high road and not attack him."

Indeed, perhaps looking toward a possible windfall settlement with the "Love in This Club" singer, nary a mean word has been uttered or even microblogged by Raymond.

Which isn't to say she's ignored the topic completely...

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The Bank Nightclub

Usher is leaving the one he's with.

The Confessions artist proved the rumor mill right Friday as he went ahead and filed for divorce from his wife of nearly two years, Tameka Raymond.

The couple have two sons together, 18-month-old Usher V, and Naviyd Ely, who was born in December.

There was talk of trouble in paradise earlier this week, the first we'd heard of the Raymonds' somewhat rocky road since Tameka was hospitalized in February after suffering life-threatening complications following a liposuction procedure in Brazil.

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A detailed, heartfelt apology has finally been issued in the Chris Brown-Rihanna incident. Just not from the person you may expect.

Usher is backtracking on an apparently egregious comment he made earlier this week about Brown, suggesting the "Run It" singer spend a little more time showing "a little bit of remorse" and a little less time jet-skiing around Miami Beach following his arrest for allegedly roughing up Rihanna.

The seemingly common-sense critique was made during a Monday recording of Jermaine Dupri's Living the Life YouTube series, a clip of which was hastily removed from the video site once word of its contents broke.

"The comments made during a recent recording session amongst friends were taken out of context and blown out of proportion," Usher said in a statement released today.

Bros before...well, Rihanna, apparently.

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Usher doesn't approve of Chris Brown's jet-skiing.

In a video posted by producer Jermaine Dupri, the "Yeah!" singer slams his fellow R&B star for being photographed last weekend joyriding around Diddy's Miami Beach mansion in what was his first public outing since the incident with Rihanna.

"I'm a little disappointed in this photo," Usher said Monday on Dupri's online Living the Life series. "After the other photo [of Rihanna's brutalized face]? C'mon, Chris. Have a little bit of remorse, man. The man's on Jet Skis? Like, just relaxing in Miami?"

Brown and Rihanna spent the weekend in Florida apparently working toward a reconciliation. They returned to Los Angeles on Monday in anticipation of the "Gimme That" performer's tentatively scheduled arraignment on Thursday. Prosecutors are awaiting evidence from the LAPD before deciding to file charges.

Usher and Dupri are currently holed up in a recording studio working on Usher's new album. The duo is mostly seen on the eight-minute clip (unspooling at MTV.com) joking around with friends. But the comments took a decidedly serious turn when the topic of Brown and Rihanna came up.

(Originally published March 3, 2009 at 1:05 p.m. PT.)

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Well, this explains Usher's solo and seemingly premature departure from Brazil.

The R&B star's wife, Tameka Raymond, was released from São Paulo's Sírio-Libanês Hospital Tuesday night after spending 11 days recuperating from her ill-fated liposuction surgery.

"She checked out yesterday," a spokesman for the hospital, speaking as always on condition of anonymity, told E! News.

Though Usher was quick to drop his Grammy commitments and rush to his wife's side on Feb. 7, the singer raised eyebrows yesterday when photos surfaced of the 30-year-old star strolling through the São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport and checking in for a states-bound flight.

While Raymond is no longer hospitalized, it's unclear whether she remains in Brazil or has already departed for the U.S.

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