Usher Seeks Protective Order Against Woman

ATLANTA (CN) - Pop star Usher is seeking protection against a woman he says has been stalking him for years.

Usher, whose full name is Usher Raymond IV, filed a protective order against Darshelle Jones-Rakestraw May 14 in the Fulton County superior court.

According to the five-page petition, this is not the first time Usher has taken Jones-Rakestraw to court for stalking. The document details her history of allegedly stalking the superstar.

"[Jones-Rakestraw] has made repeated contact with (Usher's) representatives, directed towards him, including public and private property occupied him other than his residence, that have become increasingly more threatening," the court documents say.

Jones-Rakestraw is also accused of posing as a representative for his foundation, Usher's New Look, and attempting to "extort money from his representative" on Nov. 10, 2014.

Usher first sought protection against her in July 2012, a month after she was arrested twice while trespassing at his home two days in a row.

When Jones-Rakestraw failed to undergo psychiatric or psychological evaluation, she served a 20-day jail sentence in September 2012.

Despite the 12-month protective order, Jones-Rakestraw "repeatedly made contact with Petitioner in violation of said Order."

The petition says, on March 8, 2013 Jones-Rakestraw emailed an affiliate with the U.S. Small Business Association falsely adopting Usher's surname. "She further inquired about hosting a benefit for Usher's New Look, and attached a Third Party Special Event Form used by the Foundation."

She also emailed MetaBank, again claiming to be a representative for Usher's foundation, court documents say.

On Oct. 28, 2014, the petition says, Jones-Rakestraw left a telephone message for Usher's counsel, demanding Usher contact her and that he was "doing things that is (sic) really concerning to me. He is making slanderous statements on social media via twitter and I seriously believe that we need to have a talk or you need to have a talk with him."

Usher claims Jones-Rakestraw emailed his foundation in October 2014, "informing them she was submitting an application to a bank."

The petition says she left Usher's attorney another telephone message left on Nov. 10, 2014, demanding him to return her call.

According to the court documents, the message was "overly threatening, stating 'I was supposed to be in Washington this morning with Usher and last night he told me not to come to work. And I don't have any way to eat today. I drove to Chicago and I want him to Western Union me some money or either give me something to get to work and I'm not playing with him. I'm tired of the games. If I can't eat, he can't eat.'"

Usher was scheduled to perform in Washington, D.C. that evening.

Jones-Rakestraw also allegedly contacted Usher's security detail, saying she "was going to follow Petitioner to his performances to 'get him' unless she received money from Petitioner. She also advised Petitioner's representative that she did not want to hurt Petitioner but that she was so upset there was 'no guarantee.'"

The petition says Jones-Rakestraw continued to send Usher's camp emails and created a Kickstarter website soliciting donations for Usher's foundation in March 2015.

"In a clear effort to profit from Petitioner's charitable Foundation, the website Respondent created contains a link to a separate Kickstarter webpage created to solicit funds for the reinstatement of Respondent's nursing license," the document says.

On March 30, Usher's camp contacted Jones-Rakestraw demanding she remove the Kickstarter page. On April 4, she sent an email to Usher's camp with the subject "Warning."

According to the petition, the email "included manufactured text messages falsely purporting to be from Petitioner."

On April 6, Jones-Rakestraw allegedly showed up unannounced at Usher's attorney's office. She demanded to speak with Usher's attorney, John Mayoue, and didn't leave the office until he met with her.

"During the meeting, Respondent rambled incoherently about her purported relationship with the Petitioner, threatened the Petitioner with a defamation action against him and indicated she was refusing to remove the Kickstarter page for the Usher's New Look Foundation which she created without the Foundation's knowledge or consent," the petition says.

Usher asks the court to keep Jones-Rakeshaw 200 yards from his home, family, offices and employees and to keep her from interfering with his foundation.

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