Usher responds to $20m herpes lawsuit: 'Another sexual partner may have infected her'

Usher has responded to the $20m (£15.6m) lawsuit against him by a woman who claims he infected her with the herpes virus. It comes after several others came forward to accuse the Burn singer of passing on the STD, including a man.

In July, an unidentified Georgia woman sued the R&B superstar for $10m before increasing the damages to $20m to compensate for emotional harm and medical bills. After maintaining a wall of silence in the weeks since the lawsuit emerged, Usher, 38, has now responded and requested that the entire case be thrown out of court.

According to TMZ, Usher's court documents note that his accuser's lawsuit does not mention whether she had been tested for sexually transmitted diseases and infections prior to their sexual relationship. Usher reportedly states: "A previous sexual partner very well may have already infected her."

The Confessions star also puts forward the possibility that the woman contracted the virus after their sexual encounters. Among the other arguments, Usher claims the woman exposed herself to the risk of being infected with an STD by having "casual, unprotected sexual intercourse an/or oral sex." Usher's lawyer also questions why the woman has filed the lawsuit under a pseudonym and wonders why the secrecy is necessary.

So far, only one of Usher's accusers has been named publicly with 21-year-old Quantasia Sharpton making her accusations in a press conference alongside her lawyer Lisa Bloom. Sharpton said at the time: "I had a child a year ago, and I knew I was negative. But I contacted [lawyer] Lisa Bloom to find out what my rights are as a woman. Although I am negative, I am upset by the reports because I never would have consented, if I would have known. I would not have taken a risk of getting an incurable disease.

"My health is very important to me, now that I am a mother. I feel that my rights were violated. I am speaking out today on behalf of myself and others, some of whom are positive and are embarrassed to speak out publicly. I am doing this so that he does not do this to anyone else."

It is believed Usher paid $1.1m to a woman in 2012 after she claimed to have contracted the herpes virus from the singer. Usher is said to have caught herpes around 2009 following his divorce from his first wife Tameka Foster.