Exclusive
Usher Back in Mommy's Arms After Dumping Manager Medina
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
Turns out Usher's still a mama's boy.
The R&B hitmaker has dumped Hollywood power broker Benny Medina and rehired mom Jonnetta Patton as his manager, E! News has exclusively learned.
“With an artist like Usher, the bar is set really high," Medina tells E! News. "Whether it was management, marketing or the music, we achieved a No. 1 single and a No. 1 album...I had a great time and we parted ways amicably.”
The behind-the-scenes shakeup also saw the voluntary departure of publicist Patti Webster. "I was not fired," she tells E! News.
Sources say the Medina split is a direct result of disappointing record sales for the team's first and only collaboration, Here I Stand.
"The record is pretty stiff, and nowhere nearly as successful as Confessions," an insider says, referring to the singer's 2004 blockbuster.
Exclusive
Usher Back in Mommy's Arms After Dumping Manager Medina
Frank Micelotta/Getty Images
Turns out Usher's still a mama's boy.
The R&B hitmaker has dumped Hollywood power broker Benny Medina and rehired mom Jonnetta Patton as his manager, E! News has exclusively learned.
Sources say the Medina split is a direct result of poor management and disappointing record sales for the team's first and only collaboration, Here I Stand.
"He's leaving Benny. The record is pretty stiff, and nowhere nearly as successful as Confessions," an insider says of the singer's 2004 blockbuster album.
Confessions was a worldwide sensation, selling 19 million copies under the supervision of Patton. After debuting at No. 1 in June, Here I Stand, Usher's fifth studio album, has chalked up a relatively paltry 2 million in sales worldwide. This, despite the radio success of the single "Love in This Club (Part II)."
There was no immediate comment from Usher, Patton or Medina.
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