Justin Bieber has been the focus of entertainment news for a while now, and not necessarily in a good way as of late. With the upcoming release of Justin Bieber's Believe, it was probably good timing for Usher to speak out to The Associated Press in defense of his young protégé.
"I mean more money, more problems," Usher said of 19-year-old Bieber. "The beautiful part about it is that those that are invested in a long term story you understand that there are peaks and valleys in every person's life some. Unfortunately the reality is he has to live with a camera in front of him, but what he chooses to do on or off camera is analyzed or scrutinized in some off way."
At the beginning of the year, Bieber was photographed allegedly smoking marijuana. He then threatened a photographer in London. He made distasteful comments about Anne Frank. He apologized to Bill Clinton after cursing at a photograph of him in a New York City restaurant. He was charged with graffiti in Brazil and had to apologize to the Argentinean people after he kicked their flag.
Clearly Bieber has gotten into quite a few questionable situations in 2013, and his manager Scooter Braun isn't trying to pretend that everything is fine. "Pandora's box was opened," he told AP. "I mean he got a little bit into trouble."
Bieber's mother Pattie Mallette and his grandmother Diane Dale are both standing by the scrutinized pop star and believe the media is at least partially to blame.
"I don't know it's tough because the whole world is a critic," Mallette said. "I think sometimes people dehumanize celebrities and I think what's so great about this movie is that you get to see his humanity." Dale commented, "I think the media has been terrible on him. There are so many lies going around. A little bit is true but most of it is lies. It's terrible."
Maybe the film will help Bieber's image and soften the blow from some of the recent negative media buzz. Justin Bieber's Believe comes out Christmas day.
