“He did not tell us anything,” Lil Jon revealed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Usher‘s Super Bowl nuptials came as a surprise to many — including those he shared the stage with during his epic halftime performance Sunday.
While speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Lil Jon said he didn’t find out about Usher’s secret Las Vegas wedding until after their performance.
He also shared his reaction to finding out that his friend and collaborator had tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Jennifer “Jenn” Goicoechea after filing for a marriage license with Las Vegas’s Clark County clerk on February 8 — just days ahead of the big game.
“He did not tell us anything,” Lil Jon said. “But I did see it in the press, of course. But no, I was gonna give him a break and I was gonna call him and just you know congratulate him, like, he worked hard for this.”
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Similarly, will.i.am — who also appeared during the halftime performance — told ET that Usher did a great job at keeping the wedding a secret, adding that he, too, was not aware that the “Yeah!” singer had tied the knot.
“Oh man, I didn’t even know that! Congratulations, bro. I never knew that,” the Black Eyed Peas singer said. “That’s awesome, I’m really proud of him.”
Lil Jon also said that he’d decided to give Usher a moment following the news before he congratulates him, telling the outlet, “If I got 100 text messages and 100 DMs and 100 everything else, I can only imagine what he got, so I let him [be]. I’ll hit him [up] tomorrow ’cause I, you know, me, myself, I haven’t even checked my phone. I got too many messages, so I’m like, ‘Give him a day.'”
He added, “We’re tired, like, he has to be exhausted.”
TMZ reported news of the wedding after obtaining docs that Usher and the senior music executive tied the knot on February 11. The singer also appeared to be wearing a band on his left ring finger at a Super Bowl afterparty at Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace at the Encore Beach Club at Encore Las Vegas that evening.
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While it’s presumed that the pair tied the knot following the performance — which also included guest appearances from Alicia Keys, H.E.R., Ludacris and Jermaine Dupri — Lil Jon says he could not make it to Usher’s nuptials as he had to get right back to work.
“No, I had to work,” the “Turn Down For What” singer said woefully. “I left, went to dinner and then had to go straight to the after-party.”
As for who was in attendance — per the docs, Usher’s mother Jonnetta Patton served as his witness for the intimate ceremony, which took place inside Sin City’s Little White Wedding Chapel.
Usher and Goicoechea have been together since 2019 and share two children, daughter, Sovereign, born in 2020, and son, Sire, whom they welcomed in 2021.
This marks Usher’s third marriage — he was previously married to Tameka Foster, whom he also shares children with, and Grace Harry.
