Even though Usher was exposed by a hotel staffer who witnessed one of his alleged hookups, it looks like he’s still fighting his accusers.
Usher stands accused of basically giving out herpes like the world’s worst party favor, and he has tens of millions of dollars on the line.
He’s now refuting the claim of a woman who says that he gave her herpes. Curiously, he isn’t quite denying that he has herpes.
Okay, so the story goes like this:
Allegedly, Usher engaged in an ongoing sexual fling with a Georgia woman who, very understandably, has remained anonymous.
The two were having unprotected sex when, reportedly, there was a greenish discharge from Usher’s penis.
(Sorry; that’s gross)
Usher apparently assured the woman that he did not have an STI, though it’s reported that he was in fact diagnosed as an asymptomatic carrier for herpes several years ago (like, back around 2010).
Basically, an asymptomatic carrier is someone who carries a virus without having to feel the effects.
Yikes.
So, he’s accused of deceiving her about his diagnosis and then continuing to have sex with her while knowing that he was putting her at risk.
She says that she came down with a fever and aches and then painful blistered blossomed on her genitals.
That sure sounds like the herpes virus to us, folks.
She is suing him. After learning that he previously paid a woman about $ 1 million in a settlement for the same thing, she increased her requested amount to $ 20 million.
That’s a lot of money.
Though some would question if you can put a price on a life ruined by an incurable disease.
Others have spoken out, accusing Usher of having herpes and endangering them with risk of infection.
Well, TMZ reports that Usher has responded to the lawsuit. Basically, he says that she has no proof.
According to court documents, Usher’s team notes that the anonymous Georgia woman doesn’t mention having been tested for STIs before hooking up with Usher.
Therefore, they argue, a previous sexual partner could have given her herpes.
TMZ didn’t touch on this, but we should note that we don’t think that herpes can be traced through DNA in the same way that, say, specific mutations of HIV can be connected.
However, antibody levels can be tested in order to approximate how long ago a person was infected.
So you can identify a timeframe through testing, but you need more information to identify the partner who gave it to you.
After they’ve suggested that this woman is so promiscuous that somebody else could have given her herpes, Usher’s team makes it worse.
They go on to basically shame the woman for engaging in unprotected sex, saying that she “assumed the risk” of herpes just by doing that.
Ugh.
That slut-shaming argument is grosser to us than the story of green discharge oozing out of Usher’s penis.
Interestingly, Usher’s legal team didn’t try to present the simplest possible argument.
They could have nipped all of this in the bud with: “This lawsuit is bogus because Usher doesn’t have herpes.”
The court could order STI screening and they could all be on their way.
But Usher’s attorney’s make no such claim, which strikes some as close to an admission that Usher has herpes.