Keyshawn Johnson didn’t get to speak to Justin Bieber on Monday night after an alleged incident in which he claims to have seen the teen singer speeding through their Calabasas, Los Angeles neighborhood, but it may well have been better for the star if he had.
The ex-NFL star has now spoken to TMZ , and none of it is anything Bieber will want to hear.
The website posted a video of Johnson which appears to powerfully undermine the unofficial defense made by Bieber’s camp — that he wasn’t driving the white Ferrari — Johnson and another witness say they saw racing at freeway speeds on a 25 mph road.
In the clip, the ESPN commentator is nothing if not frank.
Asked for his take on the ongoing investigation by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department into the alleged reckless driving incident, the 40-year-old said of Bieber:
“You’ve got a 19-year-old kid, you know, feeling entitled speeding up and down the highway. That’s why all the neighbors is mad.”
“Then you’ve got him spitting on people in the neighborhood, you can’t do that. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”
Slamming Bieber’s security team as “goons,” Johnson replied to TMZ’s question on whether he actually saw the singer speeding, saying:
“Look man, I know the difference between a black kid driving a car and a white kid driving a car.” He added .”I”ve got bi-racial kids, okay, my girlfriend is white. I know the difference. Okay, I know the difference.”
Pressed by TMZ , Johnson reiterated: “I got a chance to see him driving the car, lets put it that way. He was sitting in the driver’s seat.”
Referring to the other component of Bieber’s unofficial defense — namely, that he only got behind the wheel of his Ferrari once he arrived at his home to park it in his garage — Johnson was scathing. [Note: The following is his syntax]:
“If you’re that good that you gon’ switch from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, and then the driver gonna get in the passenger’s seat and you gonna pull in the driveway then he gon’ get back in the passenger seat just to ride into the garage with you then — something’s wrong.”
Ever mindful of the wider tangents, TMZ can be heard explaining to Johnson that Bieber’s camp produced another individual they claim was driving at the time of the alleged reckless incident, reportedly 22-year-old rapper-producer Tyler, The Creator .
Johnson, who at this point in the video was getting back into his car, replied:
“One thing that he does not have to do is answer to me. He has to answer to the [Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office] D.A’s office, and not me.”
He continued: “At end of the day, all I wanted to do is protect my kids. I’ve got a one-year-old and a three-year-old. He’s 19. My kids have yet to get to be 19-years-old.”
Johnson then brought up the story of the five teenagers killed in a car crash in Newport Beach, Calif., on Memorial Day. Describing a hypothetical scenario in which Bieber might “lose control” of the supercars he drives, the father-of-two’s point was a sobering one.
Sheriff’s deputies who went to Bieber’s home on Monday evening in response to two calls from Calabasas residents about his alleged speeding were turned away from the door by security.
Since then, Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore has issued a stark challenge to the Canadian.
“Mr. Bieber is making statements through others that he was not driving. If he wants to set the record straight, contact us for a sit-down, thorough interview. He has to ask himself this question, ‘If you have nothing to hide, why not talk to us?’ ”
L.A authorities are now considering a possible misdemeanor reckless-driving charge against the pop star.
As yet, neither Bieber or his publicist have commented publicly on the latest investigation or the ongoing battery investigation against the singer in which another Calabasas neighbor claims the teen spat and threatened him during a March argument over a separate alleged reckless driving instance.
Meanwhile, momentum in the exclusive gated community appears to be well and truly peaking .