Usher sues investors to recover $700,000 he lent to buy property for Homage ATL

ATLANTA (AP) — Music artist and entertainment executive Usher is suing a group of investors trying to open a new restaurant and lounge in Atlanta.

Usher Raymond IV loaned $1.7 million to the investor group to purchase property for the planned Homage ATL, his lawyers said in a lawsuit filed recently in Atlanta.

According to the lawsuit, in late 2024, three men approached Usher with plans to open the restaurant and lounge, which included purchasing commercial property in the city’s Buckhead neighborhood. Usher declined to be an investor in Homage ATL but agreed to loan the group $1.7 million for the purchase of the property.

The money was sent to the escrow account of Atlanta attorney Alcide Honoré, who represents some of the investors and is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. After the deal never went through, Usher demanded his money be returned. The lawsuit stated that he was paid back $1 million in August, but then communication broke down and he did not receive the remaining $700,000.

Honoré referred questions to his lawyer on Wednesday, but the lawyer did not immediately respond to phone and email messages.

Record producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox, one of the defendants named in the lawsuit, said on Instagram that he was a “passive minority shareholder” in one of the companies involved. “While I cannot share any more details at this time, I want to make one thing absolutely clear: My 27-year friendship with Usher remains completely intact.”

Two other men in the investment group, both from metro Atlanta, are also named as defendants. At this early stage of the case, court records did not list attorneys for these men.