A woman who claims Usher failed to disclose his alleged herpes status to her held a press conference with lawyer Lisa Bloom on Monday to announce a lawsuit.
While speaking to reporters at the Hilton Hotel in New York, Bloom announced that she was filing a lawsuit in California on behalf of three individuals—two women and one man—who claim Usher violated their rights by not warning them of his alleged diagnosis. Bloom stated, “At least one of my clients has tested positive.”
The woman who spoke briefly at a press conference this morning, Quantasia Sharpton, said she tested negative for herpes. Sharpton told reporters she attended an Usher concert with friends and was chosen to go backstage, where she claims a security guard asked for her phone number on behalf of Usher. Sharpton claims she received a call from Usher from a blocked number and that he asked for information about her hotel. “He never warned me about any STDs. It was just after my 19th birthday. I never heard from him again,” said Sharpton. “Usher, if you are negative, please say so. If you are positive, you need to warn your sex partners so that they can make their own informed decisions.”
Bloom added that “several” people have contacted her to claim they had unprotected sex with Usher since 2012 and that he may have exposed them to the virus. “Mr. Raymond has not publicly denied the reports that he was diagnosed with the virus in approximately 2009,” said Bloom. “If Mr. Raymond is negative, we call upon him to either contact each of his intimate partners since his diagnosis and notify them or to make a public statement so that people’s minds can be put to rest.” Bloom added, “We hope the reports are not true. We hope that Mr. Raymond is negative and this can be cleared up quickly.”
In July, Radar Online reported that Usher had settled a lawsuit with a stylist for $1.1 million. The site published court papers that claim Usher had unprotected sex with the woman without revealing his status. The papers also reportedly state that he was diagnosed with herpes simplex 2 around 2009 or 2010 and that he allegedly paid the accuser’s medical bills.
Via The New York Daily News:
The law is clear in California: It is illegal to knowingly or recklessly transmit an STD. Usher allegedly did just that when he told the victim he had tested negative for the virus, despite a “greenish discharge” from his penis, the court papers say.
Following the report, a woman who said she had unprotected sex with Usher earlier this year and tested positive for herpes filed a $20 million lawsuit against him for “emotional harm, medical bills and punitive damages,” according to court papers obtained by TMZ. As Bloom noted today, Usher’s team has not publicly responded to coverage of any of these lawsuits.