Usher Accuser Reportedly Might Drop $20M Herpes Lawsuit

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Usher looks on prior to Super Bowl 51 between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Looks like Usher might be in the clear in this one.

The Usher herpes accusations were one of the more prominent story lines of the summer. When he'd deny the allegations, it looked like more of them would pop up. One of the most prominent lawsuit filed against Usher was from Laura Helm, who claimed the singer gave her herpes and was seeking $20M in the lawsuit against him. Turns out, she may not be pursuing the lawsuit after all.

Helm is reportedly looking to drop the lawsuit against Usher, according to TMZ. On Thursday, Helm's lawyer, Lisa West, filed a motion to withdraw from the case, claiming that she can't "effectively represent" Helm. However, it seems that may not be the case. Their sources say that Helm actually fired her lawyer. Usher has previously filed to have the case dismissed and the court told Helm she has until the 5th of November to respond to the motion. After Helm fired her lawyer, she's reportedly be hesitant about continuing the legal warfare with Usher.

Her case has slowly fallen apart in front of her eyes. A phone call surfaced from July, two days prior to filing the case, where she's heard admitting her and Usher always used protection every time they had sex. She initially said her and Usher had unprotected sex which is how she got herpes. You could only assume the different narratives created a problem with her credibility within her case. West said that Helm was only trying to do damage control after she thought her publicist was trying to create a story about Usher having an affair. 

West said Helm "didn't want to be exploited and, in her attempt to deter Byron from doing so, she told him (inaccurately) that she never had unprotected sex with Usher and that she did not have herpes." 

Usher previously said that she assumed the risk of getting an STD by having unprotected sex with him. In the court docs, he said "With a one in six chance that any given partner could have genital herpes, [she] assumed the risk of contracting an STD each and every time she chose to have unprotected sex with a casual, consensual partner."

We'll have to see if she actually does end up pulling out of the case. 


About The Author
Aron A.
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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