‘I went to the concert for Chris Brown’: Woman behind viral Usher clip speaks out

Gabrielle Cheyenne says the now-viral moment had nothing to do with disliking Usher and everything to do with which artist she came to see.

A Chattanooga woman who became a viral flashpoint after appearing visibly unenthused onstage during Usher and Chris Brown’s “R&B Tour” stop in Nashville is pushing back on speculation about her reaction, saying the moment had less to do with Usher himself and more to do with which artist she’d actually come to see.

Gabrielle Cheyenne was pulled onstage during the July 25 show after being approached by the tour’s team and upgraded to VIP earlier in the night. In an interview with TMZ, Cheyenne said she was told only that she might be brought onstage at some point — not when, or with which performer.

“They don’t give you any instructions on who, when, where, or how,” Cheyenne said. She added that she attended the concert primarily as a Chris Brown fan, and had she known she’d be featured with Usher instead, her response likely would have been different from what was captured on camera.

“I went to the concert for Chris Brown,” she said. “It’s nothing against Usher — I’m just more of a Chris Brown fan than an Usher fan.”

Asked directly whether she would have declined the moment had she known in advance it involved Usher rather than Brown, Cheyenne said yes, though she maintained she never intended to draw the reaction the clip has generated online.

Cheyenne also addressed a follow-up post that drew criticism after the video spread, in which she referenced “pretty privileges” and directed a comment at Chattanooga specifically. She said the remark was aimed at people from her hometown criticizing her online, describing it as symptomatic of a broader “crabs in a bucket” dynamic she says plays out locally when someone experiences something others haven’t.

Cheyenne said she holds no ill will toward Usher as an artist, noting she has followed his music since childhood, but maintained that personal preference between artists doesn’t require justification.

“I can prefer one artist over the other,” she said.