Celebrity Mound

Usher kicks off his annual Camp New Look this week. The two-week program brings in kids from all over the country to Atlanta and focuses on service leadership and social entrepreneurship.

Campers will learn the importance of citizen power and the origins of personal power.

In a two-day Power Summit, Usher explains, campers will take an in-depth look at relevant social issues and design campaigns utilizing their artistic talents and abilities to bring awareness to the issue. Once campers return to their home cities, they will utilize their personal power to implement the service campaigns and to incite local youth into action.

“When I started New Look I had reached a point where writing a check for charitable causes just wasn’t enough,” Usher says. “I wanted to know that I’ve made a difference in a child’s life; that I’ve significantly used my own talents, passion and resources to impact the lives of young people (and ultimately their families and communities) in positive and stable ways.”

This year’s theme is Issue, Action…Power! and it’s interwoven throughout the business component curriculum as well as the sports and entertainment components.

“Through Camp New Look, we are creating new paths of entry and opportunities to learn and improve skills and are supporting the growth and success of young people from disadvantage circumstances,” Usher shares.

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Usher Raymond says he and his wife were separated for nearly a year before the R&B singer filed for divorce, calling the marriage “irretrievably broken,” according to court records.

The divorce petition, initiated by Usher, says the couple has lived separately since July. The two were married in a glitzy ceremony in August 2007, but split nearly a year later. The petition was filed Friday in Fulton County Superior Court.

The Raymonds have two young sons: 1 1/2-year-old Usher Raymond V and 6-month-old Naviyd Ely Raymond. Tameka Raymond has three children from a previous marriage.

The petition says there is “no reasonable hope of reconciliation” between Usher, 30, and Tameka Raymond, 38.

Usher is seeking joint custody of the children.

Tameka Raymond is contesting the divorce and has 30 days to respond to the petition. She said through her divorce attorney that she has been a “faithful wife and loving mother” during the marriage.

The couple is due in court on July 15.

About 200 people attended their wedding at resort built in the style of a 16th-century-style French chateau on 3,500 hilly acres outside Atlanta.

In a May 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Usher addressed negative feedback from bloggers over his relationship with his wife, who’s eight years older than he and was once his stylist. Before they married, Usher had a string of romances, most notably his three-year relationship with Chilli from TLC.

The Grammy-winning artist’s hits include “Confessions,” “Burn,” “You Make Me Wanna” and “Yeah!”

A lawyer who’s opposed rapper T.I. and boxer Evander Holyfield in child-support cases is representing R&B singer Usher’s wife in their split.

Usher filed for divorce on Friday from Tameka Foster Raymond after less than two years of marriage. The singer whose real name is Usher Raymond IV has two sons with Foster Raymond.

Sports and entertainment family lawyer Randy Kessler said Monday his 38-year-old was a “faithful wife and loving mother.” He declined to comment on the singer’s conduct during the marriage.

The singer wed his former stylist in a glitzy ceremony in August 2007.

Kessler also represented rapper Mack 10 in his divorce from R&B singer T-Boz of TLC.

Grammy-winning artist Usher filed for divorce from his wife of nearly two years, Tameka Foster, Friday in Atlanta.

Legal papers don’t cite an official reason for the split. A source said the pair have been “separated for awhile.”

Usher, 30, and Foster, 38, have two sons together: Usher Raymond V, 21 months, and Naviyd Ely, who was born last December. Foster also has three sons from a prior relationship.

“Usher just wants what’s best for the kids,” the source tells Us.

They are due in court Wednesday, July 15, court records show.

The pair confirmed their August 2007 nuptials exclusively to Usmagazine.com

“It was beautiful and private,” Usher gushed to Us. of their wedding in Atlanta, Georgia. “We didn’t have a first dance – but we had a lovely, intimate dinner filled with candlelight and flowers.”

They exchanged vows again on September 1.

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It may be over for Usher and Tameka Foster. The R&B star and his wife of nearly two years are reportedly in the process of divorcing.

“The papers haven’t been filed yet, but we had a telephone conversation last week with an attorney asking how to file for them,” a clerk with Cobb County Superior Court in Georgia told The News’ Nancy Dillon. The employee added that she wasn’t sure which party the lawyer represented, or who had instigated the proceedings.

Reports surfaced yesterday that the singer and his wife had been living separately for the past year. News of the split came a mere four months after Foster suffered cardiac arrest during routine cosmetic surgery in Brazil. Usher flew to South America to be at his wife’s side, but the two have not been photographed together since February.

One thing is clear: Usher hasn’t been happy for some time. In March, he told pals he was dissatisfied with his marriage. “He was tired of how demanding she is. He always had to cater to her constant insecurities,” says one friend. “But now he’s ready to move on and take care of his kids [Usher Raymond V, 18 months, and Naviyd, 6 months].”

Confirms a second insider, “Everyone close to Usher knew how unhappy he was. [Tameka] is crazy. His mother didn’t even go to their wedding because she didn’t approve!”

Usher’s mom, Jonnetta Patton, has reportedly disliked Foster since day one — and the feeling may have been mutual. Just three months before the couple’s August 2007 wedding, Patton was dismissed from her job as Usher’s manager, with many blaming Foster for the firing.

Last week, the “Yeah!” warbler tellingly went wedding-ringless at the Do Something Awards in NYC. Although he wore sunglasses throughout the entire event, “Usher seemed to be in great spirits,” says an eyewitness.

A rep for Usher and Foster did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

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Usher has been spotted with a “mystery woman” we’ve identified as Island Def Jam staffer Grace Miguel. Last week, KM Press Group photographed Miguel and Usher — who married Tameka Foster in 2007 — at Malibu Country Market, and the singer wasn’t wearing his wedding band. Then, late Thursday night, he and Miguel were snapped by X17 entering the Sun set Marquis Hotel in West Hol lywood. In February, Page Six reported Foster, who lives in Atlanta with her kids, was livid because Usher refused to let her come to Las Vegas, where he was recording his album. Usher’s rep refused to comment. Miguel didn’t return calls.

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President and CEO of Cartier North America Frederic De Narp and Usher

USHER found out the hard way that the paparazzi presence in Miami is becoming just as bad as in LA. The R&B crooner went down there last week with his toddler kid Usher V to relax and spend some father-son quality time on the beach, but was immediately bombarded by the snappers. Usher put his 10-month-old offspring back on a plane to Atlanta and later that night, while hanging out at Mansion, told friends, “I was rattled — I just need to unwind.”

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As brutal details emerged in the Chris Brown-Rihanna assault case, observers were left to wonder why some celebrities who spoke out against Brown’s behavior later softened their stances.

Exhibit 1-A is Usher, who chastised Brown for not showing remorse and instead going water-skiing in Miami over the weekend.

But then Usher soft-pedaled, issuing a March 3 statement saying, “The comments made during a recent recording session amongst friends were taken out of context and blown out of proportion. I apologize on behalf of myself and my friends if anyone was offended. The intentions were not to pass judgment and we meant no harm. I respect and wish the best for all parties involved.”

What? The state of California has an issue with Brown’s behavior but Usher doesn’t?

Not necessarily. According to a friend of Rihanna’s, the apology is meant as a sign of support for her, not Brown.

“Everybody loves Rihanna,” the friend said. “They don’t necessarily want her with Chris, but the second it was clear she was back with him, all of her friends rallied around her, stopped saying bad things about Chris. It might be what they’re thinking, but more than anything she needs support. And that’s what she’ll get.”

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