The Usher lawsuit over a failed Atlanta restaurant is taking another turn, with the R&B superstar asking a judge to sanction an attorney he accuses of giving “evasive” answers about $700,000 that remains unpaid from a $1.7 million loan.
According to court documents described by TMZ on November 13, Usher claims Atlanta attorney Alcide Honoré has been avoiding straightforward answers about the money. The singer also alleges that Honoré denied receiving funds from him, despite wire transfer documentation that Usher says establishes the transaction.
The dispute dates back to November 2025, when Usher Raymond IV filed a lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court against Honoré, longtime music collaborator Bryan-Michael Cox, entertainment industry figures Keith Thomas and Charles Hughes, and several affiliated companies.
At the center of the case is Homage ATL, a proposed upscale restaurant and lounge in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood.
According to the original complaint, Cox, Thomas, and Hughes approached Usher in late 2024 about participating in the business. Their plans involved purchasing a commercial building at 3102 Piedmont Road for $6.35 million and transforming it into a dining and entertainment destination.
Usher declined to become an investor in the restaurant. However, he agreed to provide a $1.7 million loan specifically to help the group purchase the property.
That arrangement is central to the Usher lawsuit because the singer maintains that the money was never intended to cover general business expenses or give him an ownership stake. It was supposed to finance the real estate purchase.
Made to order and shipped to your door.
On January 8, 2025, Usher’s representative received an urgent request for the funds. The lawsuit states that the group instructed him to transfer the money into an attorney trust account controlled by Honoré. Usher says the $1.7 million was wired that same day.
The complaint also states that a formal written loan agreement had not been prepared when the transfer occurred. Instead, Usher describes an agreement that restricted the funds to purchasing the Buckhead property.
Months passed without the purchase being completed. Discussions about the business continued into the summer, but the group never acquired the building.
Usher eventually demanded his money back.
In August 2025, he received $1 million, leaving an outstanding balance of $700,000. According to his complaint, the remaining funds should have been available for repayment because the property transaction never closed.
The Usher lawsuit alleges that Honoré acknowledged the difficulty of returning the balance during conversations with the singer’s representatives.
According to the complaint, Honoré allegedly said repayment was “not that easy” because some of the money had been used for “other purposes.”
Usher also claims Honoré later indicated that the funds had been transferred to a “title company,” making them difficult to retrieve. The lawsuit says no supporting accounting was provided to explain exactly where the outstanding money went.
The singer’s legal team made demands for the remaining funds and requested documentation showing how the loan proceeds had been handled.
Now, the legal fight has shifted to Honoré’s responses during the court proceedings.
In the latest filing reported by TMZ, Usher argues that Honoré’s answers have been evasive and asks the judge to impose sanctions. Sanctions are penalties a court can order when it determines that a party has violated legal or procedural obligations.
Usher reportedly points to wire transfer records while challenging Honoré’s claim that he never received money from the singer.
The reported request does not establish that Honoré improperly handled the funds or that a judge has found his responses misleading.
The underlying lawsuit goes beyond the $700,000 repayment demand.
Usher’s original complaint contains seven legal claims. Four are directed at Honoré, alleging breach of bailment, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and negligence. Those claims concern his alleged responsibility to safeguard the funds and return them when the intended purchase did not happen.
Three additional claims target the investor group, including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and money had and received. Usher alleges the group failed to honor the loan arrangement and retained funds that should have been repaid.
Each of the seven claims requests at least $700,000 in damages, bringing the amounts listed across the claims to $4.9 million. The filing also seeks interest, attorney fees, litigation costs, and punitive damages where permitted. Those separate claims do not automatically entitle Usher to recover the same loss seven times.
The Usher lawsuit has already survived an attempt by some defendants to have the claims dismissed.
In May 2026, Fulton County Judge Craig L. Schwall Sr. allowed the case against Cox and Thomas to move forward after they argued that Honoré was responsible for handling the funds. The ruling permitted Usher to continue pursuing his allegations but did not determine that the defendants were liable.
Cox previously maintained that he was only a passive minority shareholder in the restaurant venture and was not responsible for the financial transaction.
“I was not a participant in the business transaction and have no involvement in the ongoing legal process,” Cox said in a statement addressing the lawsuit.
He also emphasized that his longstanding friendship with Usher had not ended because of the dispute.
Honoré has denied wrongdoing. In a November 2025 statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he said, “I have no doubt that the facts will demonstrate I did not engage in any wrongful conduct as it relates to this matter.”
The singer’s latest reported court request places renewed attention on the attorney’s handling of the transaction and the documentation surrounding it.
