Justin Bieber has an army of critics, but one man who’s firmly in his corner is his former mentor, Usher.
The 34-year-old singer addressed the tide of negative headlines and seemingly never-ending incidents engulfing the teen singer in a candid sit-down on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week.
DeGeneres has herself been supportive of the teen singer for years, and the 55-year-old host approached the subject with noticeable tact.
“Can we talk about young Justin Bieber for a second?”she asked.
Degeneres continued : “Justin Bieber, who is you know, I love him, he’s been here many times. We had him on the show first.”
At this point Usher cut in, agreeing: “I brought him here first, right.”
Awkwardly searching for words, DeGeneres added: “We’ve been with him the whole way. He seems to be um — he’s um — he’s um …”
Usher interjected: “Keyword. You started with young.”
More than likely thinking of his own precocious start in the music business — he signed his first record deal aged 15, as did Bieber — the “OMG” star said :
“I think all of us in some way you know have humble beginnings that pan out to be incredible, and we hope that you know that in his transition — his friends and family who have helped him be who he is — that he’ll continue to just mature.”
Unwittingly, Usher raises an interesting point. He was, after all, instrumental in, well, ushering in the Canadian’s ascent to uber fame and fortune.
Scooter Braun, Bieber’s then and now manager, brought the then only Internet star into The Voice judge’s orbit in late 2007 . Already a superstar and keen to develop younger artists, Usher loved what he heard and saw. With Braun, the pair signed the Stratford, Ontario native to a production deal under a 360 deal inked by L.A Reid at Island Def Jam Music Group.
What followed next was a carefully orchestrated plan to turn Bieber into the biggest child star on the planet. And it worked like a dream .
Hits flew from his debut EP My World in 2009, encored by My World 2.0 and My World Acoustic in 2010. The following year produced a Christmas album packed with high profile collaborations such as Mariah Carey and Boys II Men, 2011’s nearly $100 million grossing concert-biopic Never Say Never , brand endorsements, notable award wins as Artist of the Year at the 2010 and 2012 American Music Awards, nominations at the 2011 Grammys, 2012’s Believe and 2013’s Believe Acoustic . Sell out world tours, unending promo, 15 million plus record sales, with Bieber named Forbes’ third most powerful celebrity in the world in 2012 and “Baby” now the highest certified single in history .
But, has the price Bieber paid for stratospheric success been too high?
Two challenged paternity suits , almost criminal levels of paparazzi attention, the tabloidization of his personal life, numerous dedicated hate blogs, constant media mocking of his physique, dress-sense, remarks — and over the last three months — excruciating headlines generated by an admittedly bizarre string of incidents on the singer’s Believe world tour, and off it.
The 19-year-old is also the subject of two police investigations: one for alleged battery of a neighbor in his Calabasas, Los Angeles gated community in March. The other, a recent alleged reckless driving incident that has just been thrown a curve ball by rapper-producer Tyler, The Creator, who says he was driving the singer’s Ferrari at the time in question .
But what part does possible burn out play in these events? And, if not that last case scenario, how much of Bieber’s so-called “erratic behavior” is due to the trauma of fame, the frenzied scrutiny of his every move, and the distortion that kind of violation undoubtedly produces?
Usher was part of the decision to set a young boy on a path that offered huge gains but also carried huge risks. He even admitted on DeGeneres’ show that child stars often crash and burn. While he — rightly — didn’t deny his protege’s own responsibility for his actions [ Note: actual as opposed to just alleged ], instead he blamed the pervasiveness of social media and media in general.
“In this days and age of social media, there is no privacy and that kind of trial and elimination period is kind of done in front of a camera,” Usher said.
He added : “It’s been done and many many other celebrities are a product of it and some come out bad and some come out good.”
Sounds like a roll of the dice, but he’s talking about the act of thrusting a minor into a life and a lifestyle that has felled bigger and badder adults. Think Robert Judy Garland, Michael Jackson, Robert Downey Jr. (pre-turnaround), Heath Ledger, Sean Penn circa Madonna, Courtney Love and Matthew Perry.
And among the younger generation: River Phoenix, Macaulay Culkin, Eddie Furlong, Drew Barrymore, Aaron Carter, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and many more.
“I am hoping for the best,” Usher said towards the end of the episode . “I don’t look at it as a negative though, I look at it as a teenager — he’s a teenager having to live his life in front of a camera. Imagine if you had to do that as a teenager.”
All good points. But who helped push Justin Bieber in front of those cameras and made a fortune while doing it if not Braun and Usher, who failed to tell a boy and his naive mother what they were really letting themselves in for?
[ Image via Featureflash / Shutterstock.com ]