Justin Bieber Vigorously Defended By Film Director: He’s Just ‘Growing up’
Justin Bieber may have just been served a cold dose of kiss and tell from Selena Gomez, but he’s also been vigorously defended by a highly respected director.
Jon M. Chu (Jonathan Murray Chu), director of G.I. Joe:Retaliation, Step Up 3D and Bieber’s $100 million grossing 2011 movie-biopic Never Say Never — which filmed the singer in the 10 days leading up to his 2010 Madison Square Garden concert — has come out swinging for the Canadian pop star.
Speaking to BBC journalist Orla Barry for Newstalk, Chu defended the 19-year-old’s recent headline-making behavior.
“I love Justin, he’s a great kid and you know he’s growing up and going through his thing…” said Chu, “he’s super-talented and he’s on the road and I think people are looking for things to find out about him and so they make a big deal out of things here and there.”
As pop culture watchers will be aware, those things Chu is referring to include Bieber’s shocking start to his 125-date Believe Tour when he was physically ill while on stage in Arizona, right up to his more recent exploits in London.
During what the singer called a “rough week,” he dubbed his London birthday party his worst after bouncers at a nightclub allegedly behaved aggressively with Bieber’s fans and own security team.
From there a series of unfortunate incidents unfolded.
There was the small matter of a disputed late stage appearance at London’s 02 Arena on the opening night of a four-night run, later encored by a backstage collapse and hospitalization, an expletive-filled run-in with a paparazzo, much Twitter venting, a canceled Lisbon concert, and a baseless blog story about Bieber’s team being “kicked out” of a Paris hotel.
According to Chu, however, none of these well-documented — and in some cases, irresponsibly reported — events amounts to anything that a normal well-adjusted teenager in Bieber’s position wouldn’t do.
“I think ultimately he’s a good kid who loves his craft and will continue to get better, ” Chu notes. “So I think that people will see that in time even if they talk about him now.”
Last night the “Boyfriend” star played at Palais Omnisports in Paris-Bercy and later visited the city’s famous Moulin Rouge to take in a show.
“It was arranged three days ago for his tour members including some of his dancers,” PR manager Fanny Rabasse told People magazine. “It was a group booking of 23. We have 900 places so it really wasn’t any problem for us.”
The venue also said Bieber and his entourage went backstage to meet some of the dancers afterwards. The star later tweeted: “Paris thank u for a great show and a great couple days. Je T’aime.”
Sounds like Chu, who attended Bieber’s City of Lights concert last night, might be right after all. You can hear the audio of Chu’s interview here.
[Image via Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com]
