Lionel Richie takes savage swipe at Chris Brown and Usher's wild tour
Lionel Richie slammed Chris Brown and Usher's R&B Tour during a concert in Phoenix last night (August 12), as he claimed the pair were 'trying to do something new'.
The stars have been co-headlining their highly anticipated stadium tour across North America, which kicked off in Denver on June 26, and has been drawing huge crowds ever since.
But the tour has not been without it's controversies.
Both Brown and Usher have particularly racy fan-involved segments during their shows - but they haven’t always gone quite as smoothly as planned.
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Gabrielle Cheyenne was among thousands of fans at Usher's Nashville concert in July, one of 40 dates on The R&B Tour.
She was picked out from the crowd for the star's signature on-stage serenade, only to be pulled off stage minutes later by the star.
"First off NOBODY is declining to go on stage," she wrote on Facebook, as fans questioned why she didn't decline the invite if she wasn't up for the occasion.
And while plenty of people have had something to say about the wild tour, one of the biggest stars to weigh in is none other than Lionel Richie himself.
Lionel Richie slams the tour
Speaking at his own show in Phoenix, Arizona, last night, the 77-year-old slammed the R&B Tour as he spoke to the crowd.
"Usher and Chris Brown, see, they trying to do something new! Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire, we were doing that back 40 years ago," he said.
As Richie added: "Only difference is, between then and now, we didn't go to jail! We're fine Christian men, fine Christian men. Fine Christian men, that's right.
"See, we didn't have that Instagram and that TikTok and that go out and tell a lie and they go and post it."
Chris Brown controversy
Chris Brown has also found himself at the centre of online backlash after footage of a particularly provocative on-stage fan interaction went viral.
The moment came during his well-known performance of ‘Take You Down’, where fan participation has become a recurring feature of his tour alongside Usher.
While bringing ticket-holders up for a lap dance has long been a staple of his live sets, recent clips uploaded to TikTok and X shows the 37-year-old taking the routine into far more explicit territory.
As the track plays, Brown straddles the fan before lifting her legs into the air, performing a series of highly suggestive movements in front of the sold-out stadium crowd.
Many online claimed the performance 'went too far'.
"There’s being a performer, and then there’s straight-up simulating sex on a mattress in front of thousands of people. It’s completely inappropriate for a stadium concert," one user wrote.
As another added: "It was painful and uncomfortable to watch."
Mia Williams