Weeks after it was revealed that Usher reportedly paid a woman $1.1 million in 2012 to settle a lawsuit after she claimed to have contracted herpes from him, two more women, as well as a man, are suing the singer alleging he failed to warn them of his STD diagnosis.
One of the accusers, Quantasia Sharpton, spoke at a press conference Monday about her hotel room rendezvous two years ago with the R&B singer while celebrating her 19th birthday.
Speaking with her attorney by her side in New York City, Sharpton said she’s negative for genital herpes. One of the other two accusers has herpes, said the attorney Lisa Bloom. The other two are only identified in court papers as Jane Doe and John Doe.
The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, alleged the singer, whose full name is Raymond Usher, had vaginal sex with the two women and oral sex with the male. All three allegedly had sex with Usher, “because Raymond (Usher) was a revered celebrity in their eyes who they believed could be loved and trusted.”
Sharpton said she was wearing a birthday crown at an Usher concert a few years ago that got her noticed by some of his people. “I was selected to go backstage before the show,” she said. She was told that Usher had seen her backstage and asked for her number.
After she returned to her hotel, she got a call from Usher, asking for her hotel and room number. He arrived a half hour later. They talked for a while, then had “sexual contact,” Sharpton said.
“He never warned me about any STDs,” Sharpton said. “It was just after my 19th birthday. I never heard from him again. When I first heard reports that he had herpes, I couldn’t believe it. I had a child a year ago, and I knew I was negative. … Although I am negative, I am upset by the reports because I never would have consented, if I would have known. I would not have taken a risk of getting an incurable disease.”
The lawsuit alleges that the eight-time Grammy winner was diagnosed with the virus in 2009 or 2010 — around the time he divorced his first wife. All the encounters in the new lawsuit occurred after his reported 2012 settlement with the woman, Bloom said.
The celebrity attorney, whose clients include Blac Chyna, said she’d been contacted by other people claiming to have had sex with Usher who are concerned they have been exposed to herpes, the Daily News said.
In California, where the legal actions were to be filed Monday, the law states that it is illegal to knowingly or recklessly transmit an STD.
Usher has not responded to the latest suit. Bloom said he also has not publicly denied the reports that he was diagnosed with the virus in approximately 2009.
She added: “Nor has he denied the reports that he had unprotected sex with a woman after his diagnosis and transmitted the virus to her without warning her, paying her a $1.1 million settlement in compensation for her injuries in 2012 … No one from (Usher’s) team has publicly denied the accuracy of those documents.”
Check out the FULL press conference below:
