Usher Sues Longtime Producer Bryan-Michael Cox & Associates Over $1.7 Million Loan for Failed ATL Restaurant

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Usher Sues Longtime Producer Bryan-Michael Cox & Associates Over $1.7 Million Loan for Failed ATL Restaurant

R&B star Usher is taking one of his longtime producers, several business associates and their attorney to court, claiming he has not been repaid in full for a seven-figure loan he made for a Buckhead restaurant that never opened.

According to a lawsuit filed Friday in Fulton County, Usher Raymond is suing producer Bryan-Michael Cox, entertainment figures Keith Thomas and Charles Hughes, and entertainment lawyer Alcide Honoré. Cox has worked on some of Usher’s most successful records, including “Burn” and “U Got It Bad,” while Thomas and Hughes are also involved in the entertainment industry.

Court documents state that the group approached Usher last year with a proposal to open a restaurant and lounge called Homage ATL. The plan involved buying property at 3102 Piedmont Road in Buckhead, the former site of the Ocean Prime restaurant, which closed in 2015.

Usher allegedly declined to become an investor but agreed instead to loan the group $1.7 million. The lawsuit says he wired the funds to a trust account in January to be used for the purchase of the property.

Months later, the complaint alleges, the property still had not been bought. Over the summer, Usher asked that the loan be repaid. He says he received $1 million in August but has not been paid the remaining $700,000.

The suit further claims that Honoré acknowledged that returning the rest of the money was “not that easy” because the funds had been used for “other purposes.” Usher is asking for $4.9 million in damages, or $700,000 for each of the seven claims listed in the lawsuit.

The legal action comes as Usher continues to receive major recognition in Atlanta. After his Super Bowl halftime performance, he returned to the city, where officials presented him with Atlanta’s highest honor, the Phoenix Award, and the Black Entertainment & Music Walk of Fame unveiled his official spot.

As of Tuesday, no counterclaims or formal responses from Cox, Thomas, Hughes or Honoré had been filed, according to court records cited in the complaint.