Justin Bieber was in hot water after a video surfaced of him telling a racist joke last week. The 20-year-old singer has since released an apologetic statement to The Hollywood Reporter. The original flick was recorded five years ago, but on May 31 it resurfaced on British tabloid The Sun’s website.
After TMZ posted it the next day, they claimed that they had the footage when it was new but decided to keep it a secret because the “Baby” singer was a just a minor (15 to be exact). In the video Biebs asks, “Why are black people scared of chainsaws?” Despite someone off-camera cautioning him not to do it, he finished his N-bomb-littered joke.
Check out the original clip and his statement on the next page.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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. Ignorance has no place in our society and I hope the sharing of my faults can prevent others from making the same mistake in the future. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say but telling the truth is always what’s right. Five years ago I made a reckless and immature mistake and i’m grateful to those close to me who helped me learn those lessons as a young man. Once again….I’m sorry.