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Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert

The singer dismissed claims he used a body double during his 7 August performance at MetLife Stadium

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

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Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert

What this story says

  • Usher performed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 7 August as part of his co-headlining tour with Chris Brown.
  • Fans posted side-by-side video comparisons questioning whether the performer was Usher, citing differences in his cap, sunglasses, cheekbone structure and hand tattoo.
  • Usher denied the rumours in an Instagram comment, writing 'AI ain’t that advanced'.
  • The left-rated reports led on Usher’s direct response, while the right-rated digest focused on fan speculation without mentioning his denial.

Who covered it

Left 49%(18)Centre 40%(15)Right 11%(4)

Percentages are shares of the 37 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 16 of the 53 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

68/100

Craft

87/100

Hype

45/100

53 sources · methodology

Usher performed at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 7 August during his co-headlining tour with Chris Brown. After the show, fans posted video comparisons on TikTok and X, questioning whether the performer was Usher. They pointed to differences in his cap, sunglasses, cheekbone structure and a hand tattoo. Some suggested he had used a body double or clone.

Usher responded to the rumours on Instagram, writing in a comment: 'Y’all are funny... clone? They can’t clone this?? How y’all come up with this? AI ain’t that advanced.' The comment was reported by IBTimes UK and PerthNow. Fans had also compared the footage to previous photos of Usher, with some defending him by noting his age and others demanding refunds.

What the coverage left out

None of the digests or reports mentioned the specific cities or dates of Usher’s upcoming tour stops. The right-rated digest did not include Usher’s denial of the clone rumours. None of the centre-rated digests quoted fans who defended Usher by citing his age, a detail included in IBTimes UK’s full report.

Coverage settled. We checked this 9 times and stopped on 16 Aug 2026, 01:15. The figures above are what it finished at.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Camera IconUsher Credit: BANG - Entertainment News
PerthNowCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

18 rated outlets

  • The left-rated outlets agree Usher performed at MetLife Stadium on 7 August 2026 and then denied on Instagram that he had been replaced by a clone. All eleven reports carry his exact words: 'They can't clone this'. Ten of the eleven are digests that note fans compared his cheekbones, tattoos and stage manner to earlier footage.
  • IBTimes UK’s full report adds that Usher wore a cap and sunglasses during the New Jersey concert, that sceptics posted side-by-side videos on TikTok and X, and that some fans defended him as a 49-year-old man. The same report quotes a concertgoer who said 'Usher really sent out his doppelganger' and another who called the performer 'Unsure!!'.
  • Nine digests mention that Usher laughed off the claims. Three digests specify that the rumours began after footage of the 7 August show circulated. None of the digests mention the 2024 neck injury that IBTimes UK links to earlier body-double speculation.

Centre

15 rated outlets

  • The four centre-rated digests carried Usher’s denial but led with the fan speculation. PerthNow quoted his Instagram comment and described the viral clip that sparked the rumours, while Hindustan Times framed the story as Usher 'breaking silence' on the claims. Jornal Expresso’s digest summarised his response as 'You Guys Are funny... Me, a Clone? No One Can Clone This, the AI Isn’t that Advanced'.
  • EURweb’s digest included additional context, noting that Usher appeared in white and sunglasses during the performance. None of the centre-rated digests omitted his denial, but none quoted it as prominently as the left-rated reports.

Right

4 rated outlets

  • Het Laatste Nieuws, the only right-rated digest, led on fan speculation without mentioning Usher’s denial. The digest described 'striking images' from the concert that left fans 'wondering' whether he had used a lookalike. It did not include his Instagram response or any reference to artificial intelligence.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert?
Of the 37 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 49% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 11% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 53. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 37 rated outlets on this story, 49% are rated left, 40% are rated centre, 11% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert biased?
Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert is one event reported by 53 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Usher denies clone rumours after fans question New Jersey concert?
53 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did Usher say about the clone rumours?
Usher denied the rumours in an Instagram comment, writing 'AI ain’t that advanced' and calling the claims 'funny'. The comment was reported by IBTimes UK and PerthNow, and quoted in full by several left-rated outlets.
Why did fans think Usher used a body double?
Fans posted side-by-side video comparisons on TikTok and X, noting differences in Usher’s cap, sunglasses, cheekbone structure and hand tattoo during his 7 August performance at MetLife Stadium. Some suggested he had sent a lookalike to perform.
Which outlets reported Usher’s denial?
All left-rated and centre-rated digests and reports included Usher’s denial. The right-rated digest, Het Laatste Nieuws, did not mention his response or the artificial intelligence reference.

Read it at the source

53 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

18
Show 10 more

Centre

15
Show 7 more

Right

4

Not rated

16
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How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Usher denies clone rumours after New Jersey concert | MediaBias News