When you have a cast that includes Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lizzo and Cardi B, among many other talented women, it’s not like your movie needs a celebrity cameo… but man, did Hustlers score a big one. One of the 2019 movie’s most memorable scenes featured R&B/hip hop singer Usher (or Usher Raymond IV, if you prefer his full name) stopping by the strip club to make it rain. In real life, on the other hand, Usher is catching flak for allegedly tossing out fake money during a recent trip to the strip club.
As you’ll see in the below post from Instagram account GlockTopickz, rather than hand out legitimate bills with faces like George Washington, Ulysses Grant and Benjamin Franklin on them, Usher has been accused of distributing dollars featuring his own face.
Ok, let’s ignore the fact of how much time and effort went into printing out these “Ush-Bucks,” which don’t serve any purpose other than advertising Usher’s Las Vegas residency that begins this July. Let’s also push aside the weird decision go with a side profile of the musician for this nonlegal tender, even though none of the men on actual bills are presented this way. To put it plainly and simply, if Usher did indeed gave this fake money to the strippers who danced for him recently, it’s disgraceful at best and illegal at worst. If you’re going to hire these women for their services, you’d better pay them with actual money, since one can’t cover their rent and groceries with “Ush-Bucks.”
But wait, this situation gets wilder. The last tweet Usher sent out is a picture of him wearing a hat made out of dollar bills. Couldn’t he have just used the fake money for the hat and saved everyone a lot of trouble?
Even if this was just a poorly thought-out prank/gag, Usher should take a cue from his Hustlers universe and be generous with his real money if he wants to enjoy some stripper entertainment. Let’s refresh our memories on that fictional night of festivities with the below clip.
Turning back to Hustlers, the crime drama followed strippers who, following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, started stealing from wealthy CEOs and stock traders visiting their club. The movie was released in theaters on September 13, 2019, just a week after it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Hustlers was received with a lot of positive critical reception and made over $157 million worldwide off a nearly $21 million budget. Unfortunately for Hustlers fans, it was snubbed at the Academy Awards, which Jennifer Lopez (who also co-produced the movie) didn’t appreciate.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all news concerning pop culture figures putting their face on money. In the meantime, keep track of the movies arriving later this year with our upcoming 2021 movies schedule.
