The owner of a strip club where Usher was accused of paying with fake money insisted the entire situation has been a "misunderstanding".
The Yeah! star was alleged to have used the fake currency, dubbed "Ushbucks" - paper money with his face on them - to pay during his visit to Sapphire Las Vegas Gentlemen's Club.
A woman posted a snap of the fake cash on her Instagram Stories, and wrote alongside it: "Exactly why we stay away from celebs most of the time they suck!!!!!!!! Cheap as f**k. So disrespectful. This is foul! Working so hard to get nothing in return, this is a joke! Their job is to entertain, take your cheap a*s back home."
She added: "The money does not have a trade in value what so ever! LMAO (laughing my a*s off) don’t y’all think he should be blasted on social media for this s**t."
The post was quickly picked up after she tagged gossip site The Shade Room, and thousands took to social media to slam Usher, who had previously posed with a suitcase full of Ushbucks last year for a photoshoot.
Following the controversy, Sapphire’s director of marketing, George M. Wilson IV, told Fox News that the situation had been blown out of proportion, as he insisted: "Usher was a true gentleman and a great guest at the club. He and his crew converted thousands of real dollars to tip the girls dancing on the stage, and left a generous tip for the staff!
"Apparently someone in his team left some Usher dollars on the floor to promote his Vegas residency. That is where it seems the confusion came in. But real actual cash was used for tips. We would love to host him again."
Usher, who has yet to respond to the backlash himself, begins his residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in July.
