Justin Bieber has had quite the 2014 already and it’s still only January. The 19-year-old is taking a much needed break from the fray in Stratford, Ontario, staying with his father and siblings in the town he grew up in.
Reportedly “happy to be with family” after a recent break in Panama, where he was joined by his manager Scooter Braun, mentor Usher, and mom, Pattie Mallette, after his recent DUI arrest in Miami, the pop star publicly thanked the Mayor of his local town — Dan Mathieson — for declarations of support, and his father, calling him a “superhero.”
Bieber’s messages were posted to his social media accounts late Thursday and come after weeks of legal turbulence, widespread online mockery, and a White House-bound people’s petition demanding his deportation.
Whether that unlikely event ever happens, Mayor Dan Mathieson and other Stratford locals have gone on record insisting they would welcome their star should he return indefinitely.
never forget where you come from or those who supported you before anyone else. still the small town kid. thanks http://t.co/9gxipLe8JB
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) January 31, 2014
Included in Bieber’s message was a link to a Beacon Herald article quoting Mathieson’s and others’ support for him.
“No matter what happens, it doesn’t negate the fact that Justin is from Stratford,” Mathieson said on Thursday, one day after the pop prince surrendered at the 52 division Toronto station to be charged over the alleged assault of a limousine driver.
Elaborating, he added, “There are some sad people out there taking great joy in another person’s challenges, and I find that to be very disheartening. He is a celebrity, but he is entitled to some form of normalcy in his life.”
Likewise, Martin Ritsma, head of the Northwestern Secondary School in Stratford, which Bieber briefly attended, added,
“He was an everyday, average young man then and, in my heart of hearts, he’s still that everyday young man. We can put him under a microscope and judge, but that’s something I’m not prepared to do,” he said.
Justin’s home visit comes amid the release of a preliminary toxicology report based on tests taken after his DUI arrest in Miami Beach, Florida,.last Thursday.
It corroborated arresting officers’ claims that Bieber admitted taking prescription medication, smoking marijuana, and drinking one beer earlier, and revealed Tetrahydrocannabinol — the dominant psychoactive chemical in cannabis, and Alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax, the anti-anxiety drug — was in his system at and around the time of his arrest.
Doubtless, the demands of a hectic career and intense media spotlight on Bieber’s waking move is a pressure few could imagine.
Apparently grateful for some family time, Justin praised his much criticized father in an Instagram late Thursday, posted next to a shot of Jeremy smiling it up in a Batman beanie.
“I have the greatest Dad in the world,” his caption read .”He’s taught me how to love, learn, and stay true to myself. I will forever be grateful because he was my superehero #batman.”
Extending the familial high-five in an earlier tweet, Justin expressed delight in spending time with his four-year-old brother and five-year-old sister.
“Lovin on @JaxonBieber and @JazmynBieber,’ he tweeted , capping his shout-out with the hashtag: ‘#FAMILY.’
Recent weeks have seen Justin hit with two charges in one week — his DUI arrest and the Toronto assault charge — which his lawyers said he is innocent of on Wednesday.
Jeremy’s adorable Thursday tweet of his two sons, pictured asleep next to each other in bed, shows why – for Bieber – Stratford will always be home.
Safe and sound #homesweethome pic.twitter.com/qGoCFj90hs
— Jeremy Bieber (@JeremyBieber) January 30, 2014