Chantel Jeffries, known in tabloid parlance as Justin Bieber’s ‘shotgun stunna’ just before he was arrested for suspected DUI in Miami Beach last month while allegedly drag racing with his friend Khalil Sharieff, was always going to find her way to a television screen.
So now that that’s out of the way, what did the 21-year-old, Wilhelmina modeling agency-signed model tell E! News in her first interview of that Miami night, her flight to Panama with the superstar, and the controversies surrounding him?
Grilled by E!’s Terrence Jenkins in a Tuesday exclusive, Jeffries said she “didn’t date” Bieber despite a slew of photos and video which strongly suggests they are or were intimate.
Elaborating, she explained, “I didn’t date Justin. If I have a choice it’s in my house with my cat and doing homework or just talking with my friends, whatever. It’s never for those reasons.”
Probed as to whether she and the “ Heartbreaker ” had ever kissed or slept in the same bed, Jeffries’ answer was classic coy avoidance and will definitely raise more questions.
“We’re friends,” Chantel replied laughing, adding ,”Do you kiss your friends, Terrence? Do you sleep in the same bed as your friends?”
Jeffries was more assertive when it came to shutting down claim Bieber is “out of control,” surrounded by “yes-men,” and lost to drugs.
The weight of the drug claims — which follow months of gossip media stories — spiked after the singer’s DUI toxicology report revealed marijuana and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax were present in his system at the time of his January 23 arrest.
Chantel flatly denied Bieber is addicted to drugs or out of control and went on to call those claims “misconceptions about Justin.”
But while Jeffries insists she has never seen the Canadian taking drugs, she admitted,
“I’m not around all the time. In the past I don’t know what’s happened with him, and it’s not really my place to say anything.”
Jeffries said she couldn’t talk about Bieber’s DUI arrest for “legal reasons.”
“He was just happy to be out,” she said of the singer when he was released from a Miami corrections facility, before opening up about their flight to Panama, Central America, a day later.
“I think he just wanted to get away and have some fun,” she said, recalling Bieber’s state of mind, “probably thinking Panama would be a place there wouldn’t be so much attention.”
The model added, “Justin’s fun, he’s cool, he’s a good person.”
Once in Panama, rumors swirled that Bieber’s team had assembled an intervention . As well as Jefffries, the star was joined by manager Scooter Braun, mentor Usher, his parents – Pattie Mallette and father Jeremy — and close friends.
Jeffries admitted to E! she didn’t know why Bieber’s inner circle were in Panama.
Keen to clear up misconceptions about her criminal past , Chantel said, “I never went to jail. I was never convicted of any crimes.”
Following last months statement by her that she would “never sell my story” about her Bieber dalliance, Jeffries said she wasn’t paid by E! for her revelations and asserted she was not a “gold-digger.”
“If anything, you can say I’m a goal -digger,” she replied, “Because, guess what? I have my own goals. And I’m focused on those. I don’t really need anybody else.
She added, “I’m like a strong independent woman.”
Jeffries has launched her own eyebrow line and is studying in school since the drama.
All in all it was a benign, first interview. Do you think Jeffries should have kept quiet about Bieber, or not?
Add your comments below.