Justin Bieber’s ‘Believe’ Director Knows He Isn’t Perfect And He’s Okay With That

Justin Bieber’s headlines this week tell of his Friday night “Great Gatsby” party,“big booty” strippers, $3 million confidentiality agreements (that appear not to have worked at all), police visits after the teen singer’s Calabasas neighbors objected to loud music, and revelations that Chris Brown, Snoop Lion, and boxer Floyd Mayweather were among the 100 or so guests at the California pad.

So far, so every 19-year-old’s male’s fantasy weekend, and possibly some females too.

Naturally, most outlets have gone big on the story, with many adding heavy critiques of the singer.

This is likely to accelerate as his Believe tour enters its final leg and the countdown to the Believe concert-documentary steps up.

Now, the movie’s director, Jon M. Chu, who helmed the 2011 smash Never Say Never, offers his take on the wild tales, endless fault finding, and accusations that he and others around the young star give him an easy ride.

“I got both sides. I got the side when I wasn’t around him to read these stories and be like ‘That doesn’t sound like him.’ And I got the side of when I actually was with him and seeing these reports come out,” Chu told MTV News, recalling recent filming with Bieber.

“A lot of them just not true and it mostly made me feel like, made me question how we get our news and how we get our media more than anything else,” Chu adds. “But, that said, I think being around him it showed me the character he has, the tough character he has.”

IQ has previously reported on the glut of inflated or fictional tales surrounding Bieber. Having said that, the pop prince’s tangles with paparazzi, arguments with his neighbors, playing to the gallery Instagrams with his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, and recent headlines generated by his Latin America leg haven’t helped.

But according to Chu, Bieber takes feedback on board.

“When he makes a mistake, he realizes it,” Chu reveals. “And he corrects himself and he is open to people telling him, ‘You made a mistake.’ But at the same time he’s not doing… all these things that people interpret aren’t what they are.”

He adds, “And I think you get some of those true stories and you get to experience from his side what sometimes what actually happens. It’s crazy how fast we get our information now and how inaccurate it can be sometimes. So we get to explore a little bit of that. Not saying he’s a perfect kid, but he’s a good kid. This is why I would do this movie.”

The director says Bieber’s team tell him being young is no excuse for his, at times, wild antics. But he tells MTV,

“But [it is] in our own heads it is. You are young. I think in this movie, you get to be with him I’m those moments; you get to experience actually how hard it is and how well he’s doing for the situations that he’s in.”

“He never complains,” Chu continues. “I ask him in the movie, ‘Are you sad sometimes?’ [He says,] ‘Yeah, I’m sad sometimes.’ But he’s like, ‘I cannot complain. Like, I have an amazing life and I have great friends and I’m very, very blessed. I should never be sad.'”

Bieber has now returned to his Believe tour after a brief break and performed to 60,000 in Mexico City on Monday night. Reports of a wild reception from locals were noted in one of his appreciative pre-concert tweets.

the streets are filled. the buildings are surrounded. people are in the trees. on roofs. on cars. everywhere. MEXICO i love it! thank u

— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) November 18, 2013