Entertainment

Justin Bieber Punches Man Who Grabs Him In Barcelona, Witness Says Assault Was Planned

Published on: November 23, 2016 at 1:49 AM
By Page Mackinley

Justin Bieber punched a man in Barcelona, Spain after the invasive stranger reached through the pop superstar’s open car window while the vehicle was moving and repeatedly grabbed at the pop prince’s chest and face.

TMZ obtained a video of the incident, which took place as Biebs was chauffeured to the Palau Sant Jordi arena to perform the latest stop on his “ Purpose World Tour ” on Tuesday night.

Gossip Cop reports, “Although it can’t be seen clearly in the video, a source close to Bieber exclusively tells Gossip Cop the man grabbed the singer by the face and he hit back in self-defense.”

A witness who also attended the Barcelona show subsequently tweeted a string of posts alleging that she heard the assailant previously telling people he planned to hit Bieber if he met him.

The witness also said the man who attacked the singer was not a fan but a malicious attention-seeker .

A Twitter user @itakeJU, also known as Marion, wrote , “The guy who grabbed Justin by the t-shirt told us he was going to hit Justin if he met him I literally insulted him and left.”

She added , “This guy came up to us he told us he was going to hit Justin if he met him.”

Marion also tweeted , “The media is already twisting s**t y’all believe me when I say that the guy who wanted to punch Justin IS NOT a fan!!!!!”

She reiterated, “I hope all of you realize that Justin didn’t ‘attack a fan’, he defended himself from someone who just wanted to punch him for attention.”

In other tweets, the fan continued, “I was like ‘he’s going to hit you before you even touch him’ and my man f***ing did.”

“I was with this dude for ten minutes he was such an a**hole he got what he deserved.”

Marion added, “He rolled down the window because he wanted the fans to see him but the guy tried to choke him so Justin defended himself”

“In the video you can see that this dude is trying to make Justin look bad but everyone saw this b**** grabbing him by the t-shirt so…,” the fan alleged.

Other fans online also claimed that they saw the unidentified male try to choke the singer and that’s when Justin punched the guy.

TMZ’s video shows the man reaching out and making contact with Justin’s chest and face as the star sat in the backseat of a car. The Grammy winner responded with a jab to the man’s mouth, which left his attacker with a bloody lip .

Even when Bieber’s car continued on its way, the man ran alongside the moving vehicle still successfully grabbing at the “Sorry” singer’s body.

As per the footage, bystanders gathered around the man after Justin’s car moved on. The assailant can be seen dabbing at his lip as he re-enacted the superstar’s punch and regaled onlookers with his version of events.

Watch Bieber defend himself by punching the man who grabbed him in the clip below.

This punching matter comes after Bieber has seen happily smiling and hugging a group of fans who waited to greet the singer when he landed at Barcelona airport early Monday morning, after flying in from a tour stop in Bologna, Italy.

Hours before the punching snafu the next day, Bieber hung out with a group of kids and the adults with them and took snapshots . Pictures of the impromptu meet-and-greet subsequently surfaced online.

Notwithstanding that an alleged witness claims Bieber’s attacker was not a fan, even if the man was a fan clearly assault is assault. The murders of The Voice U.S. contestant Christina Grimmie and Selena Quintanilla-Pérez serve as grim reminders of the potentials of out-of-control fans.

For their part, the Mossos d’Esquadra have declined to view Bieber’s punch as an assault saying there was “no sustained attack” seen on the footage. In a statement, police explained, “What’s occurred here is what would be considered a misdemeanour rather than a crime.”

“This is an incident that occurred between two people and the person who received the punch or push will have to make a formal complaint if he wants to take the matter any further,” officials added.

While many media outlets have been quick to cite Bieber’s previous run-ins, in this latest instance the 22-year-old evidently reacted to what he felt was a threat from someone he would have seen — and who was — a stranger – a stranger who was allegedly heard boasting about his plans to hit the Biebs , and who was so desperate to touch the star that he put himself at risk by running alongside a moving vehicle.

Under those circumstances, it’s not hard to imagine Justin believed he was being attacked by a reckless person who was prepared to go to extreme lengths to get to him.

That appears to fit the criteria of a clear and present danger. In which case, an attacker does not get to dictate a victim’s reaction and a victim’s justifiable response is self-defense.

The wider question? Would there even be a debate about Justin’s right to protect himself if the celebrity was a female or indeed anyone but the Biebs given the long-standing and evident anti-Bieber media narrative in play?

[Featured Image via Mat Hayward/Getty Images]

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