At Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Oscars afterparty on Sunday, insiders claim that Justin Bieber and his former mentor Usher, got into an altercation.
The news comes after reports of a rumoured fallout between the two stars.
Justin, 32, doesn’t follow Usher, 47, on Instagram, despite their 17-year history of friendship.
Now, reports claim that an incident happened between the two on Sunday night, though it’s unclear what sparked the situation.
Sources linked to Justin told TMZ that the pair got into a ‘heated exchange’ and that Usher went up to the Baby singer with ‘energy and anger’.
The report claims it was intense, but there was no physical contact.
Sources told Deuxmoi that ‘initial reports of the run-in were inflated’.
They say that: ‘According to sources, Justin Bieber simply did not want to engage in conversation with Usher.
‘There was no specific point of tension (no fight, no yelling, no cursing) just a personal choice to avoid an interaction.’
The star-studded party had lots of A-listers in attendance, including Michael B Jordan, Taylor Swift, and Timothée Chalamet, as well as Justin’s wife, Hailey Bieber.
How did Justin and Usher meet?
Justin and Usher met when the Canadian singer was 13 years old after he was scouted by manager Scooter Braun.
Through Usher, Justin was introduced to his previous mentor, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
In 2016, Usher told Howard Stern: ‘I’d heard about Justin through the grapevine because people were talking about him.
‘And I said to him, “Why don’t you set up a meeting between me and your manager? I’d love to meet with you and do this in a formal setting.”’
Turns out Usher was serious and entered a bidding war with Scooter to sign young Justin.
A collaboration was agreed between the two men battling it out and thus RBMG Records was born.
With them, Justin released his first album in 2009, and Usher featured on the song First Dance.
When have Justin and Usher worked together?
Since Usher’s appearance on Justin’s debut album, the pair have worked together on various tracks and performed at venues across the world.
One of Justin’s first major performances was at the Grammys in 2011, at which he performed alongside mentor Usher.
Both were nominated for awards, with Usher taking one home for best male R&B vocals – Justin celebrated by jumping onto his back.
In 2016, Usher joined Bieber on his Purpose World Tour, appearing at a show in Atlanta to perform songs like U Got It Bad and I Don’t Mind.
The professional relationship also seeped into the personal as Usher attended Justin’s 2019 wedding to Hailey, and the My Boo hitmaker could be seen serenading him as he cut his own wedding cake.
Are Justin and Usher still friends?
Last year, fans noticed that Justin wasn’t following his old mentor on Instagram.
A year earlier, in 2024, the Baby singer had shared a post on his account celebrating Usher’s Super Bowl halftime show. He said: ‘Love you my brother. No one can sing and dance the way you do. Love you from the depths of my heart.’
However, they do not appear to have made contact with each other publicly since then.
An insider claimed that Justin was ‘completely thrown’ after Combs was charged on sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution charges, because ‘so many people who helped to make him [Justin] who he is were close to Diddy’.
The source told the Daily Mail: ‘Bieber is so disturbed by the Diddy news and is unwilling to process it or discuss it, so he has shut off.’
Combs was found guilty on two counts of transportation for prostitution and acquitted of the most serious charge of racketeering conspiracy, as well as two charges of sex trafficking.
Through a spokesperson, Justin publicly confirmed in May last year that he was ‘not among Sean Combs’ victims’.
A video had resurfaced the year prior showing the two ‘hanging out’ and spending ‘48 hours’ together.
When Usher was himself a teenager, he spent a year living with Diddy who was convicted in 2025.
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show in 2016, he said: ‘It was pretty wild. It was crazy. There were very curious things taking place and I didn’t necessarily understand it.’
Metro has contacted Justin Bieber and Usher’s representatives for comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
