Five overlooked instances of mistreatment faced by Justin Bieber as a young star in Hollywood, that went unnoticed by fans.
Justin Bieber in a still from Popstar | image: YouTube
Surprisingly, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs wasn’t the only one who had an inappropriate connection or interaction with Justin Bieber, who was a rising star. Over the decades, Bieber has faced several mistreatments in the cutthroat entertainment industry that were ignored by fans until Diddy’s case sent shockwaves through the internet. So here are five such untold challenges faced by Bieber that were overlooked by fans.
1. Katy Perry and Jenny McCarthy’s S*xual Assault Against Justin Bieber
The entertainment industry has often witnessed moments of spontaneity where the lines between playful behavior and personal boundaries have gotten blurred. However, nothing felt as uncomfortable as the instances involving Justin Bieber. According to a throwback clip from the first part of NBC’s Justin Bieber: All Around The World in 2012, the rising star was spotted in a difficult situation with Katy Perry.
In an alarming moment, Katy Perry who was around 27 years old was spotted grabbing 18-year-old Justin Bieber’s bum at the Capital Summertime Ball, while hugging for an interaction. While this was severely disgraceful, physical assault against Bieber didn’t end there. That very year, during the American Music Awards, then-39-year-old Jenny McCarthy neglected consent and pushed physical boundaries with the pop star.
Jenny McCarthy in a still from Scream 3 | image: Miramax
Holding onto Justin Bieber while he was collecting his award on stage, Jenny McCarthy started kissing his neck. However, despite squirming to get away from her, saying “I feel violated right now”, McCarthy kept on kissing his neck and touching his butt while presenting him with the award. Unfortunately, these were some of the very first incidents involving Bieber and popular faces of the industry that were overlooked by fans as light-hearted jabs.
2. Uncomfortable Conversations Between Radio Hosts and Justin Bieber
With a career that began in adolescence and soared to unprecedented heights, Justin Bieber has captured the hearts of millions while simultaneously courting controversies. Following the above-mentioned incidents involving s*xual assault against Bieber, BuzzFeed revealed two other heartbreaking situations wherein the pop star faced uncomfortable questions from adults.
Appearing on radio shows, as a 15-year-old celebrity, Justin Bieber faced an awkward and cringeworthy situation when the female host attempted to probe the deeper layers of his personal life. Asked to give her “the s*x talk”, the host prompted uncomfortable questions like, “my parents never gave me the sex talk. Why don’t you give me the sex talk?”
Pop star Justin Bieber | image: Instagram/@justinbieber
The pop star appeared visibly uneasy while pleading with his mother to intervene. Bieber even admitted to being “uncomfortable”, before replying, “why do you want to know the s*x talk from a 15-year-old boy? That’s pretty weird”. Despite undergoing a traumatic experience in one radio show, Bieber yet again faced similar discomfort in a separate show where he was asked if he likes French girls.
Upon revealing his preference for girls, the host counter-questioned if he likes French girls because of their physicality. While personally objectifying women on the radio show, the host prompted Bieber to join in and lay bare his deepest desires. Thankfully, with his sound mind and wisdom beyond his years, the pop star refrained from commenting on something that would have otherwise put an end to his career.
3. Justin Bieber’s Awkward Moments with James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres
Apart from awkward celebrity interactions and uncomfortable radio show encounters, Justin Bieber sadly faced further atrocities from talk show hosts like James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres. Dating back to 2011, when the BRIT Awards was being hosted by James Corden, Bieber faced an uncomfortable situation while being seated beside Corden, at the same table.
During the event, James Corden made the pop star visibly restless by repeatedly telling him how “amazing” he smelled and asking about his age before shooting further inappropriate remarks. As per snippets shared online, Corden can be heard stating that he never smelled so good when he was 16, and then moving on to complimenting Bieber’s dreamy eyes.
Justin Beiber on Ellen DeGeneres’ show | image: YouTube
Fast-forward to 2015, Justin Bieber faced a humiliating situation on national television when he appeared on the infamous Ellen DeGeneres show. Therein, crossing all limits of absurdity, the host known for making celebrities uncomfortable, presented naked pictures of Bieber on the big screen that were previously taken by paparazzi without consent. Despite being repeatedly violated by industry people, fans seemingly turned a blind eye to Bieber’s challenges when it happened.
4. L.A. Reid’s Inappropriate Remarks About Justin Bieber
Amid incidents and situations where Justin Bieber was directly violated, HuffPost shared snippets from record label exec L.A. Reid’s 2016 memoir, Sing to Me, where he made some derogatory comments about the young pop star. In his book, while Reid noted his first impression of Bieber, the executive compared the pop star to a “woman” at the age of 14.
This kid was beautiful, like a woman can be beautiful and men rarely are, and he turned it on as soon as he stepped into the room. Justin was simply beautiful, his superpower was his face.
L.A. Reid quite shockingly referred to Bieber’s beauty a few times in his book and also implied how his pretty face helped him land a record deal. At one point, Reid even wrote about Bieber’s iconic hairstyle—his hair covering his eyebrows—and noted that his beauty was “every bit as important as his songs”.
L.A. Reid | image: Alison Martin, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Not to mention, while L.A. Reid’s remarks were questionable, they were the reason behind the meme that compared Bieber’s looks and even his voice to that of a woman, during his ascent. Surprisingly, while fans previously ignored the atrocities aimed at the pop star, this time, they had a major influence in turning Reid’s remarks into meme culture, adding challenges to Bieber’s already difficult rise to fame.
5. The Pop Star’s Father Had Wildly Bizarre Response to His Leaked Images
Amid the backdrop of challenging situations in the entertainment industry, Justin Bieber suffered a strained family relationship at home. Although the singer was often accompanied by his mother, Pattie Mallette, at different interviews, Bieber had an estranged relationship with her, which was revealed by Mallette in her tell-all memoir in 2012 (via The Independent).
Considering how the pop star earned little to no support at home, it was his father, Jeremy, who stunned the world following leaked images of Bieber. While the singer received mixed reactions from fans, his father dropped the most bizarre response to his son’s naked images. Instead of comforting his son, Bieber’s father took to his X account to comment on his son’s genitals.
Justin Bieber in Somebody to Love | image: YouTube
The adults in Bieber’s life allowed such atrocious behavior to unfold, and let the child star be exposed to the grossest kinds of comments and actions. So it seems that while people are now addressing the potential abuse and alleged grooming that Bieber might have faced under Diddy, it is important to look back at incidents when people had turned their backs on the pop star and completely shirked responsibility.
