Justin Bieber releases video apology over 'arrogant' behaviour

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jan/29/justin-bieber-video-apologises-behaviour

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Two days after Benedict Cumberbatch’s angst-ridden apology managed to avert the disaster of his calling black actors “coloured”, late on Wednesday night Justin Bieber released a video begging forgiveness for his behaviour over the past 18 months.

The singer’s scrapes have including egging his neighbours’ house, urinating into a mop bucket while shouting “fuck Bill Clinton!”, dangerous driving, fighting with Orlando Bloom, visiting a house of debatable repute in Rio and abandoning a monkey in Germany.

Bieber’s mea culpa was prompted by an appearance on Ellen, during which Bieber professed himself “a little nervous”. In March, he will be the subject of a roast on Comedy Central, in which a succession of comedians will mock him. “I think it’s cool to be able to laugh at yourself … I just want to own up to some of the things [I’ve done],” Bieber explained to the chatshow host.

After the show aired, Bieber recorded his message and shared it on various social media. Almost 17,000 people commented on the original video, while the tweet linking to it was retweeted 53,000 times. In the murkily shot clip, Bieber said: “Today I was on Ellen and it was a lot of fun … but I was afraid of what people are thinking about me right now. It’s been a minute since I’ve been in a public appearance and I didn’t want to come off arrogant or conceited or basically how I’ve been acting in the past year, year and a half.”

The singer attributed his behaviour to youthful angst, saying: “Just being young and growing up in this business is hard … I just felt awkward up there.” He concluded: “I really want people to know how much I care about people, and I’m not that person to say ‘I don’t give a fuck’ … I just want to make the best impression on people and be kind and loving and gentle and soft.”

Fans emotionally hailed the video, while others interpreted it as the first stage in a career relaunch which will coincide with Bieber’s 21st birthday in March, around the time of the comedy roast.

In a tongue-in-cheek article, Vanity Fair suggested that the apology may have been prompted by widespread speculation about Bieber’s Calvin Klein ad and whether his bulge was digitally enhanced. The magazine’s Richard Lawson wrote: “I think it finally hit Mr Bieber. That he’s so fully made a jackass of himself that otherwise reasonable people are perfectly willing to publicly call bullshit on the size of his genitals, frequently, and confidently. I think that’d scare just about anyone straight.”