Rob Lowe Sheds Light On Justin Bieber’s ‘Dark Secret’

Rob Lowe believes he knows Justin Bieber’s “dark secret,” or put less dramatically, what ails the embattled Canadian superstar.

A former teen heartthrob and 80’s Brat Pack survivor, Lowe has weathered his fair share of controversies — including sex tapes, drug abuse, uninspired roles — before powering back with pace in NBC’s The West Wing.

Opening up to Oprah Winfrey on her “Prime” show Sunday night, Lowe was asked about Bieber and his older, wiser view on his time as the pretty young thing for millions of young females and a number of males, come to that.

“I have tremendous empathy,” Lowe said of Bieber.

“He makes really good music, he does, but I think he knows the dark secret, and the dark secret is 80% of his audience doesn’t give a s–t about the music. And he knows it. It bums him out.”

Offering his take on the the relationship between fans and the objects of their projection — despite major differences such as the arrival of social media and advent of 24/7 news cycles which mean there’s no let up on celebrity access — Lowe sees similarities between when he was an idol and Bieber as the foremost present successor.

Lowe said of Justin’s fans, “They care about lemming-think, and their girlfriends and who’s oohing and aahing and screaming.”

The 50-year-old continued: “It has nothing to do with what he’s doing as an artist. He is the guy who is standing in front at a moment that they’re going through a developmental thing.

He adds, “It’s natural, it’s all great, but if it wasn’t him, it would be somebody else, like it was me.”

It would seem some maturer Bieber fans agree. As soon as this interview rippled across the Internet, some weighed in. The tweet below summed up the view of many:

the sad thing is Rob Lowe is right when he says most fans don’t care about Justin’s music. Most are just here for the drama, tbh

— (@Horny4DaBiebs) April 7, 2014

Although Bieber has just delivered an album, the under-appreciated Journals, it didn’t catch fire on the charts and left critics wondering if the singer’s bid to transition to adult artisthood has stalled.

Despite saying he would take a break in 2014 after seemingly burning out on his 157-date Believe world tour, which was noted for its incidents as well as sold-out concerts, Justin has continued to unveil new music, such as “Confident“ — a dub track and “Broken,“ a bite at his detractors — as well as snippets of unfinished songs.

Perhaps until Bieber gets clear of his current legal woes — which include an assault and DUI charge, and a probable misdemeanor charge for allegedly egging the house of his ex-neighbor, various civil lawsuits — and his residency in tabloid headlines, it’s impossible to predict how his new in-progress album will be received.

Most people want to see Bieber clean up his act – literally – with treatment in rehab that he sticks to before he can be “forgiven” (if that’s the right word) for his behavior over the past year.

The truth is people can get on board with the act of driving a Lamborghini while impaired, or egging a neighbor’s house while high, if they see Bieber making serious changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again. We’re not sure Justin’s quite “there” yet.

In which case, the 20-year-old might want to take note of Lowe’s thoughts on rehab.

“I loved it,” Lowe told Winfrey. “I don’t know what that says about me. I didn’t love the fact that I had to go and it was absolutely painful, but I liked the science.”

Rob went on, “I couldn’t have gotten sober without rehab because I needed the science. I needed to [learn about] addiction and what it does to your body and all of the research and the things like that.”

“A lot of people can do it through 12-step programs alone — I wouldn’t have been one of them, although I believe in them. I needed to do the work.”

What do you think readers and/or mature Beliebers? Do you think the current anti-Bieber climate will shift if he gets himself to rehab?

And since it’s on topic, do you care about Bieber’s music? The guy below LOVES it. If you watch the video you’ll see exactly why the caps were necessary.

Add your comments below.