Justin Bieber’s response to the furor over naked photos of him playing a guitar while serenading his grandmother is surprisingly classy. Ignoring the brouhaha over TMZ’s shabbily obtained snaps, the singer chose instead to refocus eyes watching his Twitter timeline on the Make-A-Wish foundation.
At least 12 hours after two nude pictures (but for a well placed guitar) of Bieber were published by TMZ and proceeded to suck the oxygen out of the Internet, he tweeted:
“Hey everyone catch Entertainment Tonight @ETonlineAlert to meet my @makeawish cutie Annalysha meet me in ATL this past weekend. Thanks.”
The teen was referring to the eight-year-old girl he met at his Meet and Greet with fans before his last North American Believe tour show in Atlanta, Georgia at the weekend.
Bieber has worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation — a worldwide organization that carries out one expressed “wish” for terminally ill or very sick children — since 2009 and attempts to grant a wish at every tour stop he visits.
On Saturday, August 10, the same day as his Philips Arena concert in Atlanta, the singer officially became the first recording artist to grant 200 wishes in the foundation’s 33-year history.
Annalysha Brown-Rafanan, 8, is the 200th Make-A-Wish child Bieber has met. She suffers from a life-threatening liver condition and was given the VIP treatment as part of her “wish” meet with the “Beauty and a Beat” star.
Compared to the pop star’s indignant social media outburst back in March over what he perceived as tabloid sensationalism and — in some cases, outright invention — Bieber’s Twitter response is remarkably level-headed one considering the widespread coverage the naked photos have generated.
Back in April, the singer’s manager Scooter Braun first announced Justin was on track to become the biggest musician wish giver.
The biggest overall contribution goes to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler superstar John Cena, whose wish count reportedly now exceeds 400.
Hey everyone catch Entertainment Tonight @ETOnlineAlert to meet my @makeawish cutie Annalysha meet me in ATL this past weekend. Thanks
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) August 12, 2013
According to TMZ , the nude photographs were taken at Bieber’s grandmother’s Toronto home during a family Thanksgiving gathering in October 2012. The gossip site reports the singer slept in at one morning and decided to prank her and other guests by stripping off and playing the guitar.
The pop prince reportedly serenaded his grandma with ad-libbed lyrics, got a lot of giggles in response and was then asked to put his clothes on. Apparently.
Hey Beliebers! Join us in congratulating @JustinBieber on his 200th wish & help us grant even more – http://t.co/UZrPLVny7H #Bieber200Wishes
— Make-A-Wish America (@MakeAWish) August 12, 2013
Make-A-Wish America president and CEO David Williams said of Bieber’s work with them,
“Despite his relentless schedule, Justin has been genuinely committed to granting wishes since the very beginning and a strong supporter of Make-A-Wish.”
He added : “Justin understands the impact on a child of a wish-come-true and how it can create positive changes in their outlook, help them feel better, and even influence their health.”
Why isn’t a 19-year-old becoming Make-A-Wish’s biggest recording artist contributor while sustaining a demanding, pressurized career more deserving of press than the exploitation of paid-for, nude photos of a kid that were never intended for public consumption?