Justin Bieber definitively beat hip hop MC Action Bronson in a game of ping pong at SPiN, in midtown Manhattan, New York City, on Friday.
The 20-year-old superstar and 31-year-old hip hop artist faced off at the Susan Sarandon-owned ping-pong social club, and it was all for The Fader magazine’s charity NBA All-Star Weekend event. DJ Khaled. A$AP Ferg, Vic Mensa and Elton Brand of the Atlanta Hawks also rocked up.
Action — real name, Arian Asllani — reportedly challenged Justin, who stepped up to the table wearing all-black pants and a long hoodie, teamed with a brand new pair of Yeezy 750 Boost high tops.
As it turned out, Bieber’s long practice hours on world tours and concerts have turned him into an impressive player, or “beast at ping pong” as producer/DJ Diplo later tweeted.
Bieber reportedly went on to beat Action Bronson by 21-0. Other sources claims it was 20-7 , or 21-7 respectively.
So @steverifkind just called to tell me @justinbieber beat @ActionBronson 21-0 in ping pong. #classic lol
— Scooter Braun (@scooterbraun) February 14, 2015
The event was emceed by Hot 97’s Miss Info , with proceeds from the tournament going to the American Table Tennis Youth Organization.
You can see all the play in the sequential social media videos linked below. By the end, an initially disgruntled Action Bronson threw a container of ping-pong balls down on the table, but seemed to come to terms with his loss later — by which time he posed for pics with the Biebs.
Bieber’s intense one-on-one with Bronson took place against a backdrop of hip-hop music, which heightened the gladiatorial mood.
“Kicking off #allstarweekend with a @justinbieber vs @bambambaklava ping pong match,” The Fader wrote alongside the clip above.
Fairly early on in the game, Bieber was two points up on Bronson, as the emcee noted in the video just below.
The two players size each other up.
“Bieber’s death stare before he whoops your ass in ping pong. What a night already, I’m going home now (sic),” Instagram user @mikey_fresh1, wrote alongside the clip below.
The game heats up.
And here it is, the winning moment! Bieber hold up his hands as he tastes victory.
Behind him, Action Bronson empties ping-pong balls over the table in the following clip.
“Bronson is very upset cuz Bieber washed in pingpong, lmaoo. BamBam still the king of Flushing though,” @Mikey Fresh1 wrote by a pic of a seemingly distraught Bronson.
Bronson — who, incidentally, is 11 years older than Bieber — made nice by the end.
After his win, Bieber played two professional ping-pong players at the same time . We don’t know the outcome of that game.
However, the singer did look fairly chirpy in the two clips with the duo, so the odds might have been in his favor.
“King of ping-pong” Bieber meets his public with some of the event organizers, including Steve Rifkind — the founder and chairman of the now defunct Loud Records.
Some time after the game, the Canadian consoled Bronson by gently reminding him it was all for fun. More importantly, it was for charity.
Well done Justin Bieber .
@ActionBronson all good. Fun game
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) February 14, 2015
. @justinbieber looks like a pro during a ping pong tournament! See video of him playing: http://t.co/C2D3Zyn2gR pic.twitter.com/fvnY20gfZG
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) February 14, 2015