In case you’re not familiar, the video for the 2004 hit sees Usher and Alicia as love interests getting cozy in the middle of Times Square.
And for their halftime performance 20 years later, the iconic duo channeled the same loved-up vibe, with Usher hugging Alicia from behind as they sang the romantic hit in the middle of the stage.
The passionate performance certainly got the internet talking, and being that Alicia has been married since 2010, the intimate display also prompted a lot of questions about how her husband, Swizz Beatz, might be feeling about it all.
Notably, Swizz was quick to address the backlash and make it clear that he wasn’t at all fazed by the PDA, suggesting that concerned fans were worrying about the “wrong damn thing.”
“Y’all don’t see that amazing dress covering the entire stadium ⚡️🚨😂😂😮💨😮💨😮💨😮💨 Tonight’s performance was nothing but amazing with 2 amazing Giants!” he wrote as he congratulated the duo on Instagram. “We don’t do negative vibes on this side we make history ✌🏽.”
And now, Usher is here to set the record straight, too, doubling down on the fact that Swizz was happy for him and Alicia to lean into the romantic vibe of the song.
Speaking on the Breakfast Club radio show on Monday, Usher said the duet was “literally about having fun because of a song me and Alicia made many years ago and we celebrate it because of the legacy of it.”
He said there was “no disrespect” intended toward anybody, adding that he, Swizz, and Alicia had fun brushing off the backlash.
“We laughed about it,” the R&B legend shared. “It’s crazy how people think. It’s all about how you present things, man, it’s all about love.”
In the same interview, Usher also addressed one of the other major talking points of the halftime show — Justin Bieber.
For context, there was a lot of anticipation in the lead-up to the Super Bowl performance that Usher might be joined by his former protégé for a surprise rendition of one of their iconic collabs.
However, it soon became clear that fans would have to wait a little longer for an Usher and JB reunion when the singer was seen watching the Super Bowl from a suite beside his wife, Hailey.
And amid recent reports that the 29-year-old turned down a duet simply because he “just wasn’t feeling it,” Usher emphasized that he fully supported Justin’s decision to watch from the sidelines.
“I think that it might’ve been the fact that he’s just wanting to tell a different story right now. And I understand that,” he said, confirming that they “did have a brief conversation” about the possibility of a Super Bowl collab.
“Justin wasn’t the only person that I actually spoke to about doing the Super Bowl, but the moment was maybe for later,” Usher revealed, adding that he’d love to see Justin play the halftime show himself one day.
“He has a career that deserves it. It just didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to,” he said. “We’re gonna do something else in the future. No love lost or anything like that. I think that it’s a lot of pressure for the Super Bowl, obviously.”