Justin Bieber’s Miami Beach DUI stumbling, pushup, CCTV jail videos are finally released and Rolling Stone splashes the singer on its latest cover.
Coincidence?
Not so much.
“Bad Boy” Bieber as Rolling Stone blasts on its Friday, February 28-dropping issue is good for business, make that great for business.
In the same way the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office pushed out Bieber’s jail videos on nine CD’s for $135 to media on Wednesday, it seems everyone is out to make a buck off another unfortunate chapter in the singer’s wild ride through 2013 and 2014.
Over 10 hours of video surveillance was filmed at Miami Beach police station after Bieber’s arrest on January 23 for suspicion of DUI, resisting arrest without force and driving without a valid license is now available on the Internet for amusement or censure .
What’s missing from the videos is footage of the Canadian urinating into a cup for his drug test or other semi-clad activities. His lawyers insist these should be sealed from public view to protect Bieber’s privacy rights. Presiding Judge William Altfield is still reviewing those five withheld clips and will announce his decision on their fate at a March 4 hearing.
No doubt more videos will come down the pipe over the next few days. Until then, haters and Beliebers alike get to gawp at the 19-year-old in two videos that aren’t the worst examples of intoxication I’ve ever seen.
The first clip shows Justin being put through unsteady paces as he attempts a straight white line walk in orange trainers for his sobriety test at Miami Beach police station. According to TMZ, Miami prosecutors think it’s smoking gun proof they have a winnable case. Either way, outlets are getting their $135 worth out of Bieber’s stumbling.
Next up is a glimpse of Bieber executing 23 1/2 pushups in 28 seconds in a holding cell. It’s less compelling evidence that he was drunk out of his skull and some folks are split over that claim.
Bieber blew a.014 and 0.011 in two completed Breathlayzer tests, which is below Florida’s legal limit for drivers under 21’s. However, he allegedly – and foolishly – admitted to police that he smoked pot, took prescription medication and drank beer earlier. Toxicology results supported that, as did his bloodshot eyes, flushed face, dilated pupils and mumbling, Los Angeles Times reports.
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And if these two videos aren’t enough Bieber-in-the-hot-seat for you; have no fear.
Rolling Stone ably fans the flames of Bieber-bashing with its teaser of “five most shocking revelations,” some of which aren’t. The tattooed heartthrob is plastered shirtless on a cover attached to a feature trumpeting, “Bad Boy: Why Justin Bieber Just Won’t Behave.”
Of course it will be catnip to the over 263,000 signees to a ridiculous petition to have the pop prince deported back to the Great White North. Rolling Stone’s decision to now regurgitate Bieber’s Jacob’s Ladder descent isn’t simply canny timing. It’s also a cynical reflection of a belief that selling Bieber as an unstoppable, speeding train wreck is the only story people are interested in right now.
A key mention in Rolling Stone’s feature recalls Justin breaking down in tears backstage on one occasion over his lack of privacy.
“If you want the Michael Jackson career, you have to grasp that you are never going to be normal again,” his manager Scooter Braun allegedly replied. It remains to be seen whether the outrageousness of that statement is meaningfully covered by the magazine when it rolls out tomorrow.
From Judge Judy, Drake Bell, Jared Padalecki, Sharon Osbourne and other celebrity slams to news media organizations’ request to see the singer urinating, and the public’s insatiable desire to damn what is – in reality – one overly scrutinized teen’s wobble year; the question has to be asked:
Do we really want Bieber to be and do better?
Or is his present predicament more commercially beneficial to the narrators of his arc?
(Photo: Bieber on the cover of Rolling Stone’s latest issue.)
Recent news that Bieber was honored with a star on the Philippines Walk of Fame for his efforts in raising over $3 million for Typhoon Haiyan victims was covered by less than five media outlets. In contrast, a hoax by an Atlanta radio station that managed to convince the world’s media that angry neighbors were staging a protest over the singer’s untrue intention to buy a mansion in an upscale area generated over 45,000 articles.
Meanwhile, David Cassidy is on his third DUI and nearly three times Bieber’s age, R&B star Miguel has just pleaded no contest, Washington Redskins’ Fred Davis was allegedly asleep at the wheel of his vehicle, and Chris Kattan was so loaded he crashed into a parked vehicle on the 101 Freeway. None of these have attracted the overkill coverage given to Bieber’s.
Tales of Bieber’s marijuana usage is apparently more interesting than the fact that he is so anxious he feels it necessary to take Xanax. Where is Rolling Stone’s cover on that? Why aren’t we talking about the holistic reasons behind his freefall into criminal charges and a still possible meltdown the media has been eagerly anticipating since the disastrous London leg of his Believe tour last March?
This boy is 19. He’s a kid. And he still will be after he turns 20 on Saturday. Age ain’t nothing but a number and he clearly has a way to go before true manhood can be claimed. But while Bieber may be unlovable to many, he is loved by his family and friends, fans who supported his early YouTube covers and ascent with pride, and the many charities he has helped with time, effort, and money over his career.
Bieber is clearly going through something. It’s made worse by relentless scrutiny, instances of baseless media reporting , amid rampant collective bullying that seems unable to accept he is a human being who is struggling. An insider recently told E! News that his mother – Pattie Mallette – believes her son will find his way out of the crisis because she found a way out of her own harrowing childhood and adolescence.
But Mallette overcame her abused background without an entire media industry training its guns on the next facepalm gaffe to dissect, obsessively repeat, and maintain .
For all those rubbernecking to see Bieber’s mistakes looped ad infinitum in Miami jailhouse videos or his numerous exploits to date, how about we flip the script and ask why this young icon appears to be crashing and why so many are so eager to freeze-frame the “splat?”
Bieber may do better and climb out of the hole he’s in with just the support of his nearest and dearest and those fans who don’t expect him to be a perfect little boy any more. But he’ll get there a lot faster if he’s given a chance to breathe, mature, and figure out how to balance his overwhelming life with just being human.
Root for that, and you root for every youngster who has ever stumbled.
Media line to pick up Justin Bieber police videos at Miami Dade State attorneys office pic.twitter.com/WZJDJ8deuT
— David Ovalle (@DavidOvalle305) February 26, 2014