It would be fair to say Justin Bieber’s relationship with the paparazzi over the years hasn’t been an easy one.
But, following a business dinner with his manager Scooter Braun and Universal Music Group Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge at Toscana in Brentwood, Los Angeles on Wednesday night, the star was all smiles and even answered a few of the shutterbugs questions as he left the Italian restaurant.
Video footage shot by X17.com showed the 19-year-old flanked by beefy bodyguards walking to a waiting cruiser wearing black leather drop-crotch pants, sneakers, snapback hat, and a sparkly T-shirt revealing the nearly full sleeve of tattoos on his left arm and his hand resting on his crotch.
After initially darting into the Sprinter van, the singer emerged to hold court with the paps for a few minutes.
One photographer shouted, “Justin, how’s everything with you and Selena? You guys still buds?”
Remarkably, instead of reacting with irritation at the personal question the Canadian zinged back,
“Selena’s great,” he replied, repeating , “Yeah, she’s great,” when the pap interjected with “really?”
Still half-hanging out of the SUV Bieber teased the snappers, asking, “What else do you wanna ask me?”
The next probe referred to the singer’s duet feature with Miley Cyrus on Young Money rapper Lil Twist’s just leaked single, “Twerk.”
“What about Miley Cyrus, you like working with her?,” another photographer asked.
“She’s great man, she’s great,” Justin replied, adding, “What else do you wanna ask me? Anything else you wanna ask me, some silly questions?”
Telling the paparazzi he would only answer “two more questions,” one snapper tried to ask for his opinion on Cyrus’ controversial performance with R&B star Robin Thicke at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Perhaps wisely, Bieber either seemed to avoid the question or couldn’t hear it above the shouts.
Finally, a pap asked the singer who he’s working on his upcoming record. “I’m collaborating with the world,” the teen star replied.
With that, the surprise Q&A was over as Justin was chauffeured off by his security team.
The popster seemed pleased with how the meeting with Braun and Grainge went, later posting a smiling Instagram of himself sandwiched between the two older men with a caption, “3 bosses.”
Following suit, Braun later tweeted , “#Repost – Great dinner tonight with @justinbieber and Mr. Grainge,” and linked to his protege’s photo.
Recently returned from a vacation in the Bahamas during which he faced his fear of sharks , Justin has kept his fans up to date on his activities through his social media accounts.
The day after Sunday’s VMA’s which he didn’t attend, the singer posted an Instagram of his ex-girlfriend Jacque Pyles captioned, “Get off ur phone Jacque.” It prompted romantic speculation by fans and media outlets alike after his previous tweet about a great dinner.
And it emerged Justin’s VMA night didn’t just involve dinner. Tattoo artists from Deer’s Eye Studio in Long Beach revealed the star added yet another tattoo to his huge collection of body art, when they posted messages on Instagram and Twitter.
“On my way home to tattoo the homie @justinbieber (sic)…,” ink artist Chuey Quintanar tweeted on August 25.
The tattooist later tweeted another message, writing, “Last nights tattoo session w/ @justinbieber #JustinBieber deers_eye_studio #chueyquintanar,” and linked to an Instagram of himself and the teen star.
Hard at work on his upcoming album Justin sparked more speculation about quality collaborations following his previous Instagram with rapper-producer Future, when he and the rapper Tyler, The Creator posted Instagram photos of a studio session with renowned hitmaker Pharrell Williams.
That studio session was followed by Tyler and Bieber’s late night trip to a Los Angeles Fatburger branch , where the heartthrob enjoyed his first 100% ground beef heart-tingler.
Gigwise notes Tyler previously described Bieber as a “cool kid” and spoke of how bowled over he was when the pair first met in 2011.
“It was weird, because I was sitting here starstruck, like, Oh, f*ck, it’s Bieber,” Tyler recalled .”He’s asking me questions. I’m like, Shut the f*ck up so I can talk to you.”
Perhaps not wanting to miss out on the Instagram action, Bieber’s friend and collaborator Lil Twist posted a photograph of himself, Justin, rapper Lil Za and “Twerk” producer Maejor Ali, captioning it, “Young Caskers.”
With the exception of Ali, the entire group posed shirtless.
Incidentally, Zimbio notes Bieber is no longer following anyone on Instagram, prompting some of his fans to wonder if the superstar has been hacked.
[ Non Social Media Images via E! Online ]