Justin Bieber’s paternal grandparents were apparently not invited to the teen star’s Believe movie premiere last week, even though his maternal grandparents and mother were at the Los Angeles event.
It’s one of the gripes George Bieber has now publicly aired.
But all may not be as it seems.
According to Radar Online , George and Kathy Bieber, say they feel abandoned by their superstar grandson and would have appreciated an invitation to the Wednesday premiere.
Asked by the website for details about his apparently non-existent relationship with Justin, George speaking from his home in Mitchell, Ontario, said,
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
However, it’s not surprising that George and Kathy were not invited to the premiere in light of what appears to be an estrangement between George and their son Jeremy Bieber — Justin’s father — and the grandfather’s habit of airing family business in public.
Back in April, George criticized Justin in interviews with a British tabloid The Sun and the New York Daily News accusing the 19-year-old singer of failing to help financially.
It’s worth noting tabloids typically pay interviewees for stories.
George claims a work-related back injury prevents him from working and the 61-year-old appears to blame his living conditions on his grandson.
“It’s like we now live on different planets,” George said in April , while claiming Justin had only given him a television set and a little money last Christmas.
He added, “He never calls us, and now I sometimes think he doesn’t care. It does make me sad as right now our lives are pretty desperate. I can’t work due to illness, so there is barely any money coming into the house.”
George also lashed out at Bruce and Diane (the stepfather and mother) of Justin’s mother, Pattie Mallette, saying: “For them, nothing seems to be too much trouble and he buys them new houses, cars, luxury holidays, anything they want — but for us, nothing.”
After George’s interviews surfaced, a source close to Justin explained the cause of the rift.
According to the insider, the singer’s close relationship with his maternal grandparents and the gifts he gives them are a bone of contention for George.
“George is jealous of Diane Dale,” the source revealed. “George was never a nice man or good to Justin. He never paid him any attention. Now that he’s rich and famous, he expects Justin to put him on Easy Street. Diane was always a loving grandma to Justin. That’s the difference.”
Justin’s relationship with Pattie — who raised him on her own, although Jeremy maintained his role in his son’s life — meant he naturally saw more of her parents than his father’s.
But it seems Jeremy has his own issues with George. After Radar’s story published, the father-of-three [posting from Canada] took to Twitter to write:
I love my mom “)
— Jeremy Bieber (@JeremyBieber) December 19, 2013
Since then until press time, there has been no mention of George on Jeremy’s timeline.
Meanwhile, over the weekend Bieber’s mother tweeted a cryptic note from her account, which may allude to George’s comments about her son.
Everything you see ain’t always what it seems. I’m wide awake.
— Pattie Mallette (@pattiemallette) December 21, 2013
The Jon M. Chu-directed Believe opens across the US on Christmas Day.