Usher Hands Benny Medina a Pink Slip, Rehires His Mom
All is well in the Raymond/Patton household now that Usher has rehired his mother, Jonetta Patton, as his manager. Let's say it together: Aww, how sweet! The news comes as no surprise to bloggers and entertainment sites that reported the singer's discontent with high-powered manager Benny Medina.
According to reports, Usher has given Medina the boot and blames him for the less than stellar sales of his recent comeback album, 'Here I Stand,' which has sold 946,000 copies since its May 27 release date. While 'Here I Stand' is by no means a brick, it's nowhere near as successful as the singer's 2004 album 'Confessions,' which sold a whopping 3.77 million in it's first 10 weeks on the shelves.
With an artist like Usher, the bar is set really high. Whether it was management, marketing or the music, we achieved a number one single and a number one album," Medina said in a statement to People. "It is a completely new day and time in music now. In four years, his audience, demographic, and musical direction has changed. Records like Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop' are the type of phenomena that 'Yeah' was in 2004. I had a great time and we parted ways amicably."
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