Justin Bieber has grown from a cute little Canadian singer into a global superstar.
And with a staggering 164million Instagram followers and whopping 113.9m Twitter fans, the pint-sized singer has firmly established himself as the Prince of Pop.
But behind the worldwide success, chart-topping albums and countless millions in the bank, the troubled music icon has seen his career plagued by problems including drugs, depression and Lyme disease – an infectious disease caused by the insects ticks.
He’s learnt the hard way that with super-size fame there comes super-sized baggage – and plenty of scuffles.
Opinion remains divided over whether some of Bieber’s well-publicised outbursts and misdemeanours could have been a series of carefully-managed publicity stunts.
But whatever you believe, he’s certainly never had a problem courting controversy during his colourful career.
Paparazzi threats
Justin Bieber has had multiple run-ins with paparazzi (Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Bieber has had numerous angry clashes with photographers.
One famous incident in March 2013 saw him lash out at a photographer in London after he left hospital.
Bieber, goaded by the snapper, threatened: “I’ll f**king beat the f**k out of you.”
He later tweeted: “Let the paps get the best of me. Sometimes when people are shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at you… well I’m human. Rough week.”
One photographer actually died on New Year’s Day that year, trying to land money-spinning shots of the star’s Ferrari.
And in another incident, in 2017, police said Bieber struck a paparazzo with his truck while driving away from an event in Beverley Hills.
No charges were lodged.
Run ins with the law
Justin Bieber was arrested in Maimi in 2014 (Image: AFP PHOTO / MIAMI-DADE POLICE DEPARTMENT)
Bieber’s run-ins with the law are wide-ranging, whether it’s being busted for driving under the influence, careless driving or resisting arrest, the star has seemingly never been far away from trouble.
In 2014, he was charged with drink-driving in Miami and also arrested on suspicion of drag-racing.
As part of the plea deal, he donated $50,000 to a youth charity.
The same year, the singer was put on probation for vandalism to a neighbour’s home and had an assault charge dropped against him after an altercation with a limousine driver.
Authorities swarmed his Californian mansion after a bizarre egg-throwing incident involving his neighbour.
Bieber was sentenced to two years’ probation and ordered to complete 12 weekly anger management sessions.
He also worked five days of community labour and paid $80,900 to his neighbour following the incident.
Bieber’s history of driving dramas saw him involved in an accident with a pedestrian in Los Angeles in 2013.
And then in 2014 a woman accused him of trying to steal her mobile phone, but the charges were dropped.
Fan incidents
Justin has been accused of abusing his fans on a number of occasions (Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Famously he was accused of punching a fan in the face on the way to his concert in Barcelona in 2016.
The shell-shocked fan was left with a cut lip after trying to touch Bieber in his limousine.
He rapped: “He just punched me… I touched his face like this and went, boom!”
A video emerged on social media showing the singer’s hand making contact with the young man’s face.
Bieber also mooned his fans in 2013 and was even accused of touching a female fan’s chest in the same year, with the photo having gone viral on the social-media platform.
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And he sparked outrage from some fans when he was allegedly two hours late for a show at London’s O2 Arena in May 2013.
He later apologised and stressed he had, in fact, only been 40 minutes late for the gig.
It seems 2013 was a big year for Bieber controversy, as was also accused of spitting at his fans after being photographed leaning over the side of a balcony.
In 2019, Biebs apologised for videos from 2014, when he had been a teenager, which saw him using racist language.
He was also rumoured to have been involved in an angry altercation with Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom back in 2014.
Seized pet monkey
Justin Bieber’s monkey Mally was seized in Germany (Image: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
And if you thought Bieber’s accident-laden life couldn’t get any more bizarre, well, think again.
The star lost his pet monkey, Mally, when the capuchin was seized by custom officials in Germany ahead of a series of big gigs in the country in 2013.
The animal had to be quarantined in an animal shelter and Bieber was branded a “super-moron” by leading animal rights activists, furious with him for keeping a monkey as a pet.
A leading professor of evolution biology at the University of East Anglia slammed the star for encouraging people to think of primates as pets.
He told The Times: “Justin Bieber, the guy’s a moron. Absolute super-moron.
“When you see celebrities like Rihanna and Justin Bieber – and a few others with pet monkey, that is really bad and we should tell people it’s really bad.”
Deportation petition
273,000 people signed a petition to have Canadian Bieber deported from the US (Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Bieber’s legendary antics led to a petition aimed at having the Canadian-born star deported from the US.
Signed by 273,000 people in 2014, the document was hosted on the White House’s official website.
Bieber’s meteoric rise has undoubtedly seen him crack under the pressure of tabloid scrutiny.
But it’s inevitable he wants to be loved and accepted. He once tweeted: “As long as my family, friends and fans are with me, you can say whatever.”
Anne Frank controversy
Justin Bieber tweets pic of himself in hospital after collapsing off stage. 10 hrs Justin Bieber ø@justinbieber tweets: Gettin better listening to Janice Joplin . thanks for everyone pulling me thru tonight. best fans in the world. figuring out what happened. thanks for the love. Mirror grab (Image: Twitter)
Bieber’s larger-than-life personality, violent outbursts, multiple on-stage rants and overexposure make him an easy target for haters.
The star didn’t help himself when he visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam in 2013.
He was widely-slated for saying he hoped Frank, who tragically died in a Nazi concentration camp, would have been a “Belieber” – a phrase coined to describe his fans.
Public urination
Justin was seen urinating into a mop bucket in a leaked CCTV video (Image: Getty Images)
In a leaked video that emerged in 2013, an 18-year-old Bieber seemed to be seen relieving himself in a janitor’s mop bucket in a New York restaurant before then spraying a photo of former US president Bill Clinton while saying: “F**k Bill Clinton.”
He later apologised to the president and said the claimed that the liquid had been cleaner fluid.
Naked photos
Justin Bieber was caught in the buff by sneaky paparazzi (Image: Justin Bieber/Instagram)
Back in 2015, Justin Bieber was photographed completely naked while on holiday by prying paparazzi.
He had been on holiday with model Jayde Pierce when he was captured with a long lens strutting around in the buff.
The singer later seemed to make peace with the incident, telling Ellen DeGeneres: “It wasn’t, like, as bad as I thought it was gonna be. It wasn’t as terrible.”
Hailey Baldwin… and happiness
Justin is married to Hailey Baldwin, daughter of Hollywood star Stephen Baldwin (Image: Instagram)
Bieber, who celebrates his 27th birthday today (March 1), does finally seemed to have found happiness.
And, dare we say, seems to have mellowed during the past couple of years.
That is rumoured to be thanks to the grounding influence of his wife, Hailey.
The pair started dating in late December 2015 but split in 2016.
They later reconciled in May 2018, got engaged two months later and married in November of the same year.
The model is the daughter of Hollywood actor Stephen Baldwin, the youngest of the well-known Baldwin brothers.
In an adoring Instagram post to his wife, he gushed: “So grateful for the gifts God has given me, my hope is to grow into all that God has for me in all areas of my life. First and foremost, my relationship with my incredible wife.
“What a blessing to have the opportunity to grow. Maximise potential and watch fulfilment in your heart start to grow.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
