Turns out Usher's still a mama's boy.
The R&B hitmaker has dumped Hollywood power factor Benny Medina and rehired mom Jonnetta Patton as his coach, E! News has exclusively learned.
�With an artist like Usher, the bar is set very high," Medina tells E! News. "Whether it was management, selling or the music, we achieved a No. 1 single and a No. 1 album...I had a great clock time and we parted slipway amicably.�
"Usher has dissolved his management arrangement with Benny Medina and has re-engaged Jonnetta Patton as his manager," read a financial statement released on his behalf late Wednesday by label Sony BMG.
The behind-the-scenes shakeup also saw the volunteer departure of publicist Patti Webster. "I was not fired," she tells E! News.
Sources tell the Medina split is a take result of disappointing record sales for the team's first and only quislingism, Here I Stand.
"The record book is pretty stiff, and nowhere nearly as successful as Confessions," an insider says, referring to the singer's 2004 blockbuster.
Confessions was a worldwide sensation, marketing 19 million copies under the oversight of Patton. After debuting at No. 1 in June, Here I Stand, Usher's fifth studio record album, has chalked up a comparatively paltry 2 one thousand thousand in gross revenue worldwide. This, despite the radio success of the single "Love in This Club (Part II)."
Adds Medina: "It is a completely new daylight and time in music now. In four days, his consultation, demographic, and musical way has changed. Records like Lil Wayne�s 'Lollipop' ar the type of phenomena that 'Yeah' was in 2004."
In a brief joint statement released through his record pronounce, Usher and Patton affirm the break. "Usher has dissolved his management arrangement with Benny Medina and has reengaged Jonnetta Patton as his manager," the duo said.
Usher dumped the momager for Medina last year amid reports of tension between wife Tameka Foster and Patton�and considering his previous remarks, it might be tough sledding home again.
"This is great for me because it means I now get to stimulate my female parent strictly as my mother, with no added insistence," the one-named wonder, whose last name is Raymond, told the Associated Press in 2007, when he and Patton parted ways.
And just last month, the 29-year-old entertainer was quoted in Vibe magazine career his mamma an "belligerent person" wHO made his decision to part ways difficult.
"I offend more than anything over these last two long time, when I felt my mother didn't really embrace my berth," Usher told Vibe.
News of the switcheroo also comes after Usher's rep stroke down rumors that he and Foster were having marital issues.
While it clay to be seen whether Patton still has the multiplatinum touch when it comes to guiding her son's vocation, Medina's credibly not pain too much.
His current stable includes Nicole Richie, Mariah Carey and Rupert Everett. He has also antecedently helped call the shots for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Tyra Banks and Sean "Diddy" Combs.
(Originally published Aug. 6, 2008, at 12:40 p.m. PT.)
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