Patrick Carney of The Black Keys has reignited a feud with Justin Bieber that began when he disparaged Bieber to — of all people — TMZ . Quite coincidentally, the Ohio band have a new album coming out next week.
Justin Bieber has only just seen off one feud with Seth Rogen . Now another arrives, and this time it’s an oldie. Patrick Carney of The Black Keys has reignited a spat that started when he made comments to TMZ last year and now claims in this month’s Rolling Stone were actually a “compliment” Bieber “didn’t understand.”
Confused? Here’s a recap.
As most know, Bieber was miffed when he was shut out of the Grammys last year. The Black Keys, on the other hand, won four for El Camino.
Back in February, TMZ — who live for the kind of soundbite Carney gave them — asked the drummer for a comment on Bieber’s Grammy snub. Happy to oblige, Carney sniped:
“He’s rich, right? I mean, I don’t know. Grammys are, like, for music not for money and he’s making a lot of money. I don’t know, he should be happy, I guess.”
A day later, Justin, who clearly thought his artistry had been insulted, tweeted, “the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha,” with a jokey sign off.
Inevitably, the then 18-year-old’s tweet mobilized an army of Beliebers who sent Carney the kind of comments outraged kids send online . Patrick hit back by changing his Twitter handle to Justin Bieber and declaring a “new world premiere” of a Bieber tune was on its way.
Now, a year and three months later, Carney has started the whole nonsense up again — and with timely method.
Grown man @patrickcarney calls @justinbieber bad words just in time for @theblackkeys ‘ album release http://t.co/oYQrkp241S
— SPIN (@SPINmagazine) May 9, 2014
Speaking to in a Rolling Stone , the 34-year-old let rip with expletives aplenty.
“Justin Bieber, like a f–king irresponsible a–hole, sicced 40 million Twitter followers on me because I paid him a compliment he didn’t understand,” he said Friday. “And he shouldn’t be f–king telling his followers to slap me and then also be doing anti-bullying bullsh–t. It’s so irresponsible.”
Turning up to Defcon 5, Carney ranted, “I mean, Justin Bieber is a f–king moron.”
“And that’s the gist of what I was saying. And then he goes and says I should be slapped? Honestly, I feel bad for him. Every single person who works with him should f–king be embarrassed that they don’t ( sic ).”
He went on, “No one is doing him any favors, you know? And honestly — I don’t dislike his music. I don’t listen to his music, but he needs to not conduct himself that way. Like, really, you make millions of dollars playing music, you should feel f–king lucky.”
And it’s not just the shirtless one who came in for flak, Team Bieber gets a tongue lashing.
“If you’re a 34-year-old f–king loser like me, and you go on Justin Bieber’s Twitter account like a total pervert every time that he gets in trouble, you should look at his tweets the next day. It’s always like, ‘I love you guys so much, always believe, never stop believing.’”
“He’s feeding them the Kool-Aid more and more,” Carney accuses.”He pours it on heavy, though. It’s so manipulative!”
“And whoever taught him that that was OK, whoever’s watching him and is like ‘that manipulation is acceptable,’ should be really ashamed of themselves.”
It’s probably safe to say The Black Keys’ Bieber Fever subscription will not be renewed this year, or any year.
The press will lap this up, of course. Celebrity feuds make for headlines and everyone watches for the comebacks.
For our money though, Bieber would be advised to ignore this one. It’s not worth the time or effort.
There was no need for Carney to dredge up a dead feud with over-the-top profanity for what may well be commercial reasons. And clearly, he can’t be that bothered about the “bullying” of Bieber fans if he’s willing to pull the trigger once more.
I will troll you till you love me.
— Patrick Carney (@patrickcarney) May 10, 2014
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