Gabrielle Cheyenne, the fan whose unenthusiastic reaction to Usher’s onstage serenade went viral last week, has offered an explanation for her demeanour: she was hoping to be called up for co-headliner Chris Brown instead.
Appearing on TMZ Live on Monday, Cheyenne said her loyalty was simply with the wrong performer on the night, telling hosts her reaction “would have been totally different” had Brown, rather than Usher, been the one who brought her on stage during the pair’s joint R&B Tour stop in Nashville.
She explained that she and her mother had originally been seated on the floor before Usher’s team approached and upgraded them to VIP seating, without telling them in advance which artist they’d be joining on stage.
Cheyenne said she wouldn’t have accepted the upgrade at all had she known from the outset it would be Usher calling her up.
She also pushed back on the wave of online criticism directed at her since the clip went viral, attributing much of it to what she described as a “crab in a bucket” mentality among women from her hometown of Chattanooga, saying some people “go ballistic” when someone else gets an experience they didn’t.
In earlier social media posts responding to the backlash, Cheyenne had also rejected suggestions she’d turned down the moment altogether, insisting “NOBODY” declined to go on stage, and defending her decision to let herself be seen on the venue’s jumbotrons in front of thousands of fans.
Neither Usher nor Chris Brown has publicly commented on the incident or Cheyenne’s explanation. The R&B Tour continues, with Usher and Brown’s next stop scheduled for Birmingham, Alabama, on 28 July.
