Justin Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette, is probably mighty tired of people offering advice on her famous and increasingly infamous only son. But she may make an exception for First Lady Michelle Obama, who has now added her voice to the Bieber debate.
While the mother of Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, isn’t dealing with over a year of controversies involving allegedly hotboxed jets, assaults, drag racing, monkeys without documents — and the rest of it, as the wife of the leader of the free world, FLOTUS does have her own battles with press intrusion and unsolicited criticism.
Nutshelled, Obama’s advice to Mallette was to spend more time with Justin and try and find out what’s at the root of his issues.
“I would pull him close,” Michelle said of the teenage heartthrob in an interview with Univision when asked how she would parent him. “I don’t know if it would be advice as much as action. I would be very present in his life right now.”
The mom-in-chief added, “And I would be probably [be] with him a good chunk of the time.”
“Just there to talk, to figure out what’s going on in his head, to figure out who’s in his life and who’s not, you know.”
(Photo: Bieber at the White House in 2011 to perform in a Christmas Concert)
Many may agree with the First Lady’s views.
After a neighbor accused Bieber of egging his house in Calabasas, California, last month, police raided the superstar’s home on January 14, looking for evidence to connect him to the incident. During the raid, rapper Xavier (“Lil Za”) Smith, 20 – the Canadian’s live-in pal – was arrested for suspected drug possession and eventually charged with three felonies for possession of MDMA (a purer form of Ecstasy), Oxycodone, and vandalism.
Concerns about Lil Za were raised by the singer’s manager, Scooter Braun, last Fall, when it was reported he considered the rapper to be a “bad influence” on Bieber.
Fast forward two weeks to Justin’s arrest in Miami Beach for suspected DUI while allegedly drag racing with R&B singer Khalil Sharieff in a rented yellow Lamborghini and red Ferrari respectively.
Eyebrows were raised over the company Justin keeps, and a later toxicology report which revealed marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax were present in his system at the time of the arrest.
In addition, Bieber turned himself in to Toronto police last week to be charged with assault over an alleged attack on a limousine driver in December.
Drawing on experience Obama said her own kids “just want you near, you know, they want that advice from a parent. They want to see you on a daily basis,” adding because Justin is “still a kid, he’s still growing up,” it’s likely he feels the same way.
Mallette gave birth to Justin at just 18, separating from his father Jeremy 10 months later.
Her childhood and adolescence were blighted by drug-use, sexual abuse from others, an attempted suicide attempt – then a turnaround she credits to Christianity. The youthful 37-year-old shared her life story in the best-selling “ Nowhere but Up, ” and has spoken often of her mothering approach.
“When your kids hit a certain age your parenting style changes and it is hard letting go. A lot of people might think that I have my head in the sand or that I am oblivious to the things my son is doing,” Mallette People last summer.
She continued , “I know who my son is and I don’t always agree with every single thing that he does but I don’t necessarily have to address that with everyone else. He’s my son and I have to respect he is not going to want me going around being ‘that mom’ talking about his behavior.”
Recently Pattie and Jeremy — who has been criticized for alleged “abusive” behavior with his son on a private flight to New Jersey, and his alleged role in the ‘drag race’ — spent time with Justin in Panama, Central America, where the singer fled after his DUI arrest.
They were joined by Braun, Bieber’s mentor Usher, and others, for what some thought might be the “intervention” Lucian Grainge – the head of the singer’s record label, Unversal Music Group head – recently called for.
At the time People reported a friend of Bieber’s said the group in Panama were “[They’re] not confronting him but giving him advice.”.
“His life was my life and now I’ve had to let him go a little bit and let him be independent,” Mallette previously said. “It is hard to not be able to control everything that your adult child does.”
While the flood of opinion and media coverage on Bieber continues, it remains to be seen if Pattie and Jeremy will take on Ms.Obama’s advice .
(Photo: Bieber with his parents in less critical times.)