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Did You Fall For These Fake News Justin Bieber Stories This Week?

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 20:48 PST, Sep 30, 2017

The Justin Bieber fake news problem continues.

This week, the UK’s The Sun and Metro newspapers were forced to remove stories from their websites because their respective “interviews” with Bieber were fabricated.

Both publications posted online articles containing purported “interviews” with the Canadian superstar. However, Bieber never spoke with either media outlet.

On Tuesday (September 26), The Sun — which has a history of publishing false stories — misrepresented that it had an “exclusive” interview with the pop prince.

In fact, that was a flat-out lie. Despite the tabloid claiming Justin “told The Sun Online” that he thinks Brit singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran “owes him a song,” no such interview took place with the Biebs.

While Sheeran did reveal in interviews earlier this year that he had accidentally hit the Biebs with a golf club during a fun night out in Japan, The Sun went so far as to make up quotes from Bieber.

The newspaper fraudulently reported that the “Sorry” singer was now talking about the incident and using it as a way to get Sheeran to collaborate with him again.

“Of course I want him to write for me again in the future,” Bieber was quoted as saying.

“I get that every artist out there wants him to write for them, but we are buddies and he still owes me from hitting me with a golf club,” The Sun alleged the Biebs went on to say.

The tabloid further wrote Justin said, “I think probably a lot of people aren’t even aware of some of the songs he has written for the biggest performers in the world over the last few years.”

It was reported the heartthrob then added, “He wrote ‘Love Yourself’ for me and bang — it was the biggest song of 2016.”

However, as it turns out, none of these alleged Bieber quotes were authentic.

One day after The Sun published its fictitious Bieber “interview,” the story was taken down from the tabloid’s website.

The reliable rumor debunking outlet, Gossip Cop, notes, when readers try to click to The Sun’s bogus story, a message on the page now states, “WHOOPS! We can’t seem to find what you’re looking for. Try our search below or return to our homepage.”

Additionally, for obvious reasons, the page URL has been updated with the term “legal removal.”

The Sun’s latest falsehood wasn’t the only fake Bieber story to surface this week.

Two days before The Sun’s Sheeran story was published, the UK’s Metro newspaper reported a slew of wholly fake quotes and falsely attributed them to Bieber.

On Sunday, Metro reported that Bieber offered his “advice” to Brit talent personality Simon Cowell and also endorsed talent competitions.

Justin was quoted as saying, “These shows have credibility for as long as they keep discovering talent.”

Metro claimed the superstar opined, “You aren’t going to find a One Direction every season but I think Simon does need to find a big star this year.”

The paper also alleged that Bieber stated, “I have never understood the hate towards talent shows,” before supposedly adding that “Some of the biggest artists of the last 10 years have been discovered that way.”

Metro then claimed Justin said that if it wasn’t for talent shows, people wouldn’t know who One Direction, Little Mix, Kelly Clarkson, and Fifth Harmony were and that such a fate “wouldn’t be good for the industry.”

However, Metro’s alleged Bieber “quotes” were fabricated. Inevitably, multiple outlets reported these false quotes and spread Metro’s spurious Bieber “interview.”

Metro subsequently removed their fraudulent article from their website. The page now displays a message saying “Oops! That page can’t be found.”

It is not clear whether Bieber or another celebrity’s legal team forced the removal of Metro’s false report, but clearly if the newspaper stood by its story, it would still be up on its website.

In the same week, false stories claiming Bieber is set to star in a movie adaptation of “Despacito,” the huge hit song the superstar featured on with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.

As Gossip Cop confirmed, that film-adaptation claim — which originated at the tabloid Star magazine — is fake news.

So, too, is another tabloid claim which alleges Bieber is “desperate” to become friends with movie star Chris Pratt, simply because Pratt has recently been spotted attending Hillsong Church in Los Angeles, which Justin also attends as a longtime member. Again, Gossip Cop reported that claim is false.

As the Inquisitr has previously reported, false stories reported primarily for clickbait is an ongoing epidemic in print and online media.

[Featured Image by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images]

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