Usher Was In A Bidding War Over Bieber

Usher opened up in a new interview with People about the “bidding war” between him and Justin Timberlake to sign a still-unknown Justin Bieber in 2008. “I think, right after [my album] Confessions that I was introduced to Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun [Bieber’s manager],” he recalled. “We built a friendship, but this would obviously create a partnership that would span us forever, and it was a bit of a bidding war between me and Justin Timberlake.”

Usher says he “presented Scooter an offer that I felt like he couldn’t resist” and pointed out that “there can only be one Justin” in the equation. “So if you want to go with Justin, that’s Justin and Justin. Me, it’s only one Justin,” he explained. But there’s no bad blood between Usher and Timberlake. “I’ve always wanted to do a record with Justin,” he said.