Justin Bieber Apologises For Being A Dumb Kid

Even more people hate Justin Bieber now, after The Sun (paywalled) released five year-old footage of the singer making a gross, racist joke. The video shows the old, bowl-cut baby-faced version of Bieber making a crack involving chainsaws and the ‘n’ word. The joke itself is offensive, but it’s Bieber’s smug self-satisfaction that really sells it. Bieber seemed like a cool and humble dude, too, so it’s a shame to learn that he is in fact an offensive prat.

The singer launched straight into damage control mode, immediately releasing an apology to TMZ. In fact, it was so prompt that it was almost like he’s been dreading the release of the video for years, and had the draft sitting in his gmail, ready to go.

In all seriousness, though, Bieber was fifteen at the time. It’s an age when many people are eagerly exploring their capacity to offend, pushing social and behavioural boundaries. He’s now a man (his words), and should probably be judged on his behaviour as a man. Of course, his recent behaviour has been pretty crummy too, but still, we should probably just do what the man (his words) says.

See below for the video and his full apology.

As a kid, I didn’t understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was ok to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn’t realize at the time that it wasn’t funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance.

Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologized for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the past have become public I need to apologize again to all those I have offended.

I’m very sorry. I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again.