It has been a difficult year for dancers in the adult industry. In light of the closing of clubs during the pandemic, many dancers had to scramble to make ends meet, turn to platforms like OnlyFans or dance for tips on IG Live. When a dancer in Sapphire Las Vegas accused Usher of using counterfeit money with his face on it to tilt, dancers across the country followed her.
On her Instagram story, a dancer who goes to @ beel0ve posted a photo of the Usher accounts. “Ladies, what would you do if you danced for Usher all night and he threw it?” she captioned the photo and added in a follow-up post that the money ‘has no trade-in value’ at all. The post was initially picked up by other dancers’ accounts and advocacy organizations before it gossiped about Instagram accounts such as The Shade Room, with many online sleuths pointing out that Usher himself had a photo of a clear briefcase filled with the fake money she had. Instagram on April 3 to promote his upcoming Las Vegas residency.
A Usher representative was not available for comment. In an email to Rolling clip, George M. Wilson IV, the director of marketing at Sapphire Las Vegas, denied the story, saying: ‘Apparently someone in his team left a few Usher dollars on the floor to promote his residency in Vegas. This is where the confusion apparently entered. But real cash was used for tips. Wilson added that the musician was a true gentleman and an excellent guest at the club. ‘
But many dancers who saw the posts were furious. “Dancers have stigma and have to deal with contempt,” said Chrissa Parker, founder of the Dancers’ Resource, an Instagram account and app that allows dancers to submit ratings and ratings of the clubs where they work. “It adds to the level of contempt.” Gizelle Marie, a dancer who previously worked at Sapphire Las Vegas, says the situation is exacerbated by the fact that many clubs have increased their house fees, or that the fees of dancers are required to pay club owners to perform in the light of the pandemic. “It’s just a waste of women’s time and money,” she says.
The story also gained traction largely on social media, as Usher built up much of his public image as a proponent of exotic dancers, namely with the pro-stripping national anthem “I Don’t Mind” and his cameo appearance as himself in the 2019 film Hustlers. There is an established genre of dancers who use social media to call out public figures who trust clubs to enhance their image but the dancers do not point it out or compensate for it. ‘I feel like a lot of celebrities get their aesthetics out of sex work and it helps to enhance their music and stuff like that. They use it for their profit, ”says Gizelle Marie. “But many of them do not pay homage to the real sex workers.”