R&B singer and music mogul Usher is facing a potential highly embarrassing situation, as a tape he made with ex-wife Tameka Raymond when they were married has surfaced online and is being shopped around to the highest bidder.
The existence of the tape has been confirmed as early as 2010, when it first got out into “the wild” after the laptop it was on was stolen from Usher’s car. But the matter is far from over, TMZ reports.
The tape is out again, looking for an owner
In 2010, when in Atlanta, someone broke into Usher’s car and made away with 2 laptops, 2 video cameras and jewelry estimated at $1 million (€802,404). Perhaps it’s best not to ask why he had this kind of expensive bling just lying around in his car.
In a very short while, that “someone” was trying to sell an adult tape with Usher and Tameka, which was confirmed to have been on one of the 2 laptops the thief lifted from the car. When word of this got out, everyone suddenly lost interest in the home-made production, and Usher probably thought that was the end of it.
The tape has resurfaced, the celebrity e-zine notes. No one knows if the current owner is aware of where it came from, but they’re trying to sell it to bloggers, after having had no success with adult companies.
The tape is as illegal as it gets
And here’s why no one wants it, even though it features one of the biggest stars on the planet: the tape was stolen and it links the seller to the theft, which means it could land them in jail.
To purchase and distribute it, adult companies would need a waiver from Usher and he’s obviously not even considering giving it to them.
As a side note, now that you know of this waiver, you can estimate how many of the “leaked” adult tapes of celebrities were truly sold without their permission, and how many were planned PR stunts. Here’s looking at you, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton.
The exception to this is to obtain a waiver not from the celebrity – Usher, in this case – but from the other person featured on the tape. As you probably guessed, Tameka has no intention of consenting to the release either.
That said, chances of the tape actually making it out are looking slim right now. “We know famed lawyer Mark Geragos is repping Usher and is aggressively on the hunt to find the person who's trying to cash in,” TMZ says.
If Usher has a say in it, no one will see as much as a few seconds’ worth of personal footage. That is, unless the seller agrees to give the tape practically for free to bloggers, and they release it online free of charge.