Report: Usher may re-hire mom as manager

NEW YORK, July 7 (UPI) -- R&B artist Usher is considering rehiring his mother Jonetta Patton as his manager, sources told the New York Daily News.

Usher hired Benny Medina, who has guided the careers of Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez, last spring to replace his mother as his manager.

However, sources told the Daily News Usher is blaming Medina for the slow sales of his latest CD, "Here I Stand," even after Medina reassured the singer that selling 433,000 copies of the album in its debut week was respectable given the current climate of the record business.

One insider said Usher was upset when Lil Wayne's album, "Tha Carter III," sold more than 1 million copies its first week out when it was released three weeks after Usher's new CD.

"Usher was livid!" the insider said. "He threatened to fire everyone."

The Daily News said the singer was also upset that fewer viewers tuned in when he headlined the BET Awards this year, compared to when Beyonce opened the show last year.

"People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother," a source told the newspaper. "Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready."