It’s Not Usher’s Fault His 5-Year-Old Son Nearly Drowned

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Usher‘s 5-year-old son, also named Usher, was rushed to hospital last week after he nearly drowned in the pool at his father’s Atlanta home. He had to be resuscitated because he took in large amounts of water and basically almost died. The incident is doubly awful considering Usher’s ex-wife and little Usher’s mother Tameka Foster already lost her 11-year-old son from another marriage last year after a jet skiing accident.

In any case, little Usher is okay and recovering at home, and Tameka has spoken out to insist that she doesn’t blame big Usher for the accident during an appearance on Good Morning America.

“I don’t know if there’s a way for a blood pressure to peak higher so quick. I was at a dental appointment and [Usher] doesn’t call me regularly, so when I saw his number come up I immediately jumped up because I figured, ‘He has the boys – I need to get this’.

“It was like I relived [last year]. My brain just went into all those modes of thinking, and I even said on the phone, I said, ‘I’ve had this call before’.”

“I was like, ‘How did this happen? Who was watching him? Why was my son underwater for nearly three minutes?’ I didn’t blame [Usher] for it – I just was angry that it happened on his watch, because while accidents happen, never have my children been injured on my watch.”

Tameka called an emergency custody hearing after the incident, though Usher eventually won it. Here’s what happened with that:

“My attorney filed an emergency motion so that when my son was released from the hospital, he wasn’t going to have to go back to the house where the incident happened, because based on our custody schedule, just like now, my son was released into his father’s care again. I deem that an emergency.

“I’d like to have my first right of refusal, which means that when he is not present the kids come home to their mom. They don’t stay home with their nanny and watch whatever show he’s on. They come home to their mother. I had to see on Instagram that my 4-year-old lost his first tooth. That’s my baby. Things that are precious moments, milestone moments, I’m just missing them.”

She has a point, to be honest. I don’t know what kind of father Usher is and I don’t particularly care, though I do think that while accidents happen, there was probably some amount of distraction there (or just not paying attention) that led to this happening. Tameka has gotten a bad rap in the press, but I dunno, I’m with her on this one… and just glad that the kid is okay.