After nearly two years of diva-esque shenanigans such as urinating in buckets, drag racing and showing up nearly three hours late to his own concerts, pop sensation Justin Bieber has appeared to clean up his act just in time for a major comeback.
Bieber launched his career simply by posting YouTube videos of himself singing.
The videos were seen by Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun, who contacted his mother and flew the pair out to Atlanta, Georgia, to meet with singer-songwriter Usher. Bieber was immediately signed to RBMG with Island Def Jam Music Group at the young age of 14.
The start of his career skyrocketed almost instantly thanks to his charming good looks and voice of an angel.
Every girl wanted to date him and every boy, despite what they might have told their friends, wanted to be him.
But regardless of Bieber’s obvious success, every move he made was thoroughly examined under a microscope by all.
There was a following by not only paparazzi, but also crazed fans nearly 24/7.
Many, my father included, predicted that Bieber would succumb to the unfortunate downfall that most child stars in the spotlight do.
Looking at things in a technical manner, Bieber did succumb to what I’m going to call “child-star syndrome.”
After five years of constantly working, the 21 prince of pop began acting out following the end of his Believe Tour.
After the end of his tour and his breakup from on-again-off-again girlfriend Selena Gomez, the bad behavior began.
At first there were smaller stunts such as being photographed with blunts and alcohol, but then his outbursts began to escalate.
In March 2013 in London, Bieber attacked a photographer after the photographer insulted him. Bieber cursed out and lunged at the man while his bodyguard held him back.
More of Bieber’s offensive acts include harassing one of his neighbors, vandalism and multiple counts of marijuana possession.
The worst of the acts, and hopefully the last, was Bieber’s January 2014 arrest for drag racing with a DUI.
Following his arrest, Bieber was quiet on all media outlets. It wasn’t until recently that he started stepping out into the spotlight again.
Bieber was chosen to be the target of Comedy Central’s 2015 Roast ceremony. He took the stage and handled the insults like a champ. He stayed humble and lighthearted throughout the entire special and ended the night with a public apology for his recent behavior.
“There was really no preparing me for this life. I was thrown into this at twelve years old, and I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into.
There’s been moments I’m really proud of and a lot of moments I look back and I’m pretty disappointed with myself for.
But the things that I’ve done really don’t define who I am. I’m a kind-hearted person who loves people and through it all, lost some of my best qualities.
For that, I’m sorry,” he said during the Roast. If you ask me, this apology was the beginning of Bieber’s comeback.
Since his roast, Bieber has shown his dedication to getting his career back on track.
He is now working with model and socialite Kendall Jenner in the new Calvin Klein ad campaign, has been spending time supporting multiple charities such as “Pencils of Promise” and has made it clear that his main focus is his upcoming album and regaining the respect of his fan base.
His newest single entitled “What Do You Mean?” has proven to be a gigantic hit by opening at number one on Billboard’s Hot 100.
Things are looking way up for Bieber. But I don’t believe he’s completely out of the woods yet. Just last week, he had a minor outburst on Good Morning America.
The singer yelled at a cameraman following the performance of his new single for the man being too close to his face while he was trying to dance.
Bieber’s diva-like habits are not completely gone yet.
But he has made it obvious that he’s making an effort to keep his mouth shut when he doesn’t have anything positive to say.
If Bieber keeps up this level of determination and does his best to ignore the critics, I have complete confidence that his career will make a full recovery and possibly be even better than before.
This is his chance to regain the fans he’s lost and maybe even gain some former non-Beliebers.
Claire Hickey can be contacted at chickey@kscequinox.com
