Justin Bieber’s Believe world tour is at the center of yet another manufactured media drama .
It’s been reported by numerous outlets that the Canadian pop star and his team — which includes dancers, technical crew, band, assistants and management — were asked to leave a prestige Paris hotel due to the behavior of Bieber’s fans, and the singer’s “encouragement” of their antics.
From a tabloid perspective it’s a great story, fitting snugly into their existing — and provably baseless — narrative that Bieber is barreling full tilt towards a Mel Gibson style meltdown and is at the very least a spoilt, demanding brat.
The hotel ‘story’ — such as it is — goes like this. After leaving London, the Believe tour rolled into Lisbon then Madrid before the entire crew checked into Paris’ Hotel Le Meurice on Sunday, March 17.
Founded in 1815, this legendary, five-star hotel was used by Woody Allen in his 2011 Midnight in Paris and can count Royalty and film stars including Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Salvador Dali, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt among its past clientele.
In short; it’s the kind of hotel people are desperate to get into — not leave. So what actually happened?
According to the Daily Mail , Bieber and his “entourage” were asked to leave the historic Le Meurice because of the 19-year-old’s “attitude” and his “blatant encouragement” of fans waiting outside.
The newspaper goes on to say that Bieber booked seven suites on two floors for himself and his team, but within a few hours of their arrival hundreds of young fans had amassed outside the hotel and even inside the lobby.
Jean-Marc Morandini, a French media reporter with a somewhat provocative past wrote on his blog on Monday: “Justin Bieber has just been kicked out of the Meurice Hotel in Paris.”
Morandini added that it was “a decision by the management of the luxury hotel because of his [Bieber’s] behavior in the establishment and because of the nuisance caused by the presence of fans around the building.”
Supposedly, an inside source at Le Meurice said that the noise made by fans had become “intolerable,” adding “there were kids everywhere screaming and shouting, and the other guests just didn’t like it.”
That source apparently added: “Justin was clearly encouraging his fans, that’s something he has to do.”
In pursuit of a credible quote, IQ contacted Le Meurice to ask why the singer had left the hotel.
A duty manager told us: “We [Le Meurice] really wanted Mr. Bieber to stay but he left for personal reasons.”
As it turns out, the manager’s reply wasn’t a “diplomatic” line being taken by the hotel as some outlets had earlier suggested. It also substantively matches the quote reported by E! News from an official La Meurice spokesman who stated :
“[Bieber] decided to leave Le Meurice yesterday evening. It was his decision. We would have loved to keep him staying here.” The hotel spokesman added that they had absolutely no trouble with the pop star and there was no sign of any attitude.
Bieber’s rep, Melissa Victor, also told E! News :
“Justin was not kicked out of the hotel. He decided to transfer to the Mandarin Oriental when there wasn’t enough security at the hotel to control the crowds. There wasn’t even an underground entrance for him at the other hotel and the security was too lax given the size of the crowds.”
Bieber is due to perform at the Palais Omnisports in Paris-Bercy on Tuesday night, and has now checked into the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Paris. As ever, the teen star kept his 36 million plus followers on Twitter abreast of his mood, posting a simple message from the City of Lights that read: “know your truth.”
[ Image Via Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com ]