It was supposed to be one of the biggest bashes of the summer. Star couples including Beyoncé and Jay Z, as well as Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri were en route to Usher’s planned wedding to Tameka Foster in the Hamptons on Saturday when they received word the nuptials had been called off.
So what went so terribly wrong that the couple (who are due to become parents this fall) would cancel their own wedding? We may never know the real answer, but after the wedding cancellation was announced, media outlets (and various online chatrooms) went into overdrive to solve the “mystery.” Speculation on the exact cause is rampant; however, most agree it’s safe to say that the couple’s decision not to marry was the result of several unresolved issues.
Mainly family issues… and perhaps the event itself.
The “family issues” can be summed up in two words: Usher’s mom. Word has it Jonetta Patton (who served as her son’s manager until he fired her in May—allegedly after Foster’s prompting) was against the union to begin with. According to New York’s Daily News, Usher’s mother was not originally invited to the wedding. She was later invited at the last minute, but as one source tells the paper she didn’t want to go.
“She’s not a hypocrite. As much as she loves her son, she’s not going to pretend that everything’s fine,” the source said.
The New York Post also speculated that Usher’s godfather, Broadway star Ben Vereen, had been removed from the guest list because of his view toward Foster.
As for the event itself being to blame, the paper says the couple only decided two weeks ago to have a wedding. Apparently, they wanted to exchange vows before Foster’s baby bump got too big.
Then there was the issue of food. According to the Post, the bride wanted barbeque, Usher wanted to have world-class chef Jean Georges cater the meal. As a result of the differences and growing friction between Usher and Foster the wedding, according to a source close to the pair, “was on again off again for the past few days. [Foster] was calling it off because she wasn’t getting the things that she wanted. The mother was calling it off… Usher was calling it off.”
In the end the tents went up and the vendors showed, but no one else did.