Less than a month ahead of Usher's Apple Music Halftime Show at the 2024 Super Bowl, the singer was Vogue's winter digital cover story star, discussing his 30-year career and his preparations for the iconic halftime performance.
But some backlash has ensued. For the cover story published on Jan. 17, Usher appeared in photos alongside model Carolyn Murphy as well as members of a boys' youth football team.
Fans were quick to question why Usher, 45, didn't appear on the cover solo, and why the publication decided to have the Grammy Award-winning singer joined by a white model and a group of children.
"USHER DESERVED HIS OWN COVER! WHY IS HE IN THE BACKGROUND ON HIS OWN COVER?????????????" one X user asked.
"They didn’t even put Usher front and center!" another X user replied to the magazine's post of the cover photo.
"this was AWFUL! Usher should not have to share the cover. who are these little ppl and this random lady?" wrote another user on X.
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Vogue did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TODAY.com.
Other social media users compared the cover to NBA star LeBron James' 2008 Vogue cover, in which he appeared alongside model Gisele Bündchen as the first Black man on the cover of the magazine.
"they love doing this! when Lebron was the first Black man on the cover in 2008, they put Gisele w/him," one X user wrote.
"why does every time a black man has a vogue cover, it’s having to share it with a white model?" a commenter on Instagram asked.
In the cover story, Usher discussed his plans for his halftime show, hinting that it "has to be perfect."
"I’ve been doing this for 30 years," he said. "I want people who have been a part of that journey to feel like it’s a celebration for everybody, for all of us, from the beginning up until this point."
He added that there will be at least one costume change, special guests and that the audience will feel like they're being serenaded in a show he crafted to have "R&B take the main stage."
"People will tune in for a football game, but I hope when they look at that halftime performance, I’m hoping they walk away with something that’s healing them," he said. "Something that makes them feel hopeful, and not just look at the past, but have hope for the future, and have hope for a different type of future than we’re looking at right now in the present."
Murphy was quoted as saying she had "the best job in the world" after working with Usher, who she said had a huge arrangement of hydrangeas delivered to her dressing room.
"What a gentleman, truly a rarity," Murphy told Vogue.
Usher's halftime performance follows Rihanna's return to music for the 2023 Apple Music Halftime Show, where she also announced her second pregnancy.
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