Justin Bieber was given explicit permission to spray-paint graffiti at a luxury Australian Gold Coast hotel, says its management.
On Thursday, the QT Hotel at Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast wrote on its Facebook page:
“He asked, and we said YES” next to a picture of the 19-year-old’s graffiti work.
Bieber is currently touring Australia on the final leg of his Believe world tour.
During his stay at QT, while performing two shows in Brisbane on November 26-27, the singer and his crew tagged graffiti on the hotel’s external walls in the early hours of Wednesday after his sell-out concert on Tuesday night.
The hotel says it’s delighted Bieber painted “a piece of art in appreciation of his stay.”
“The piece of artwork will be left for fans to enjoy,” it told Reuters in an email . “We believe it is a wonderful addition to the colourful Gold Coast arts scene.”
The graffiti was on private property and not accessible from public land, a hotel spokesman said, which meant the council had no authority to get rid of it.
QT said in a comment on its Facebook page that “we absolutely gave approval,” and described the Canadian singer as “a lovely young guy.”
In a further response to a comment on its Facebook page the hotel wrote, “We are stoked to have Justin Bieber’s artwork on our wall.”
Others aren’t.
On Wednesday, Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate described Bieber’s behavior as “really, really silly” to the Brisbane Courier-Mail .
He also sent a graffiti removal kit to the QT Hotel’s reception for the singer and his crew to collect and use to clean the walls.
Tate subsequently gave Bieber two options via Australia’s Nine Network,
“Just come and clean it up and we’ll be happy with you,” he said. “Alternatively come and sing at our mayoral Christmas carols on 7 December for an hour and I’ll let you go.”
“The last thing we want is to have graffiti glorified and more young people thinking it’s a cool thing to do,” Tait told AAP .
“I know he’s got beautiful eyes. I’ve got some goggles for him, and some gloves because I know he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty,” the Mayor added, clearly unaware of Bieber’s hands-on help in building a school for deprived children in Guatemala , Central America.
(Photo: Justin Bieber’s Graffiti at QT Gold Coast Hotel).
Into the mix, the Gold Coast City Council has acknowledged Bieber’s graffiti was tagged on private property, but says it is in public view and is an eyesore.
“The city has a zero tolerance approach to graffiti,” a mayoral spokesman told the BBC .
“The mayor will contact the hotel to say that if Justin Bieber does not want to use the free graffiti removal kit left with him, then the hotel is expected to use it. If not, we will send council compliance officers to ensure the mess is taken care of.”
Bieber’s graffiti, much like street art he has left in numerous South American countries, includes a Pacman ghost, abstract, fluorescent cartoon shapes and other characters.
The “All That Matters” singer posted one picture of QT hotel graffiti to his Instagram page. It has since been ‘Liked’ over 555,000 times at press time.
For their part, the QT hotel, who appear unfazed at the attention, has slammed a “made up staffer quote” published in some news reports.
At its Facebook page, the hotel offered to donate a wall to a graffiti artist, whose design they approve, to execute artwork as “something positive for the arts community.”
Bieber is now in Sydney ahead of two concerts in the capital on Friday and Saturday. Show dates in Melbourne and Adelaide follow with the Believe tour wrapping in Perth December 8.
(Photo: Snapshot Of QT Hotel’s Response To A Commenter At Their Facebook Page).
[ Images via Jerad Williams and News Limited ]