Usher Once Defended Justin Bieber Over a Racist Video And Called Him a 'Naive Child': "I've Watched..."

Usher coached Justin Bieber before the Yummy hitmaker landed his first record deal at 13. In 2008, the My Boo singer co-founded RBMG with Scooter Braun's Schoolboy Records and the label exclusively signed the young artist. The Sorry singer became involved in a racial controversy in 2014 after two leaked videos showed him using the N-word. In the first video, a teen Bieber can be seen continuously using the racist slur while singing Usher's song One Less Lonely Girl.  According to Fox News, he was also caught bragging about joining the white supremacist terror organization Ku Klux Klan and murdering black people in the same clip. However, Usher, came to the defense of his protégé calling him 'a naive child' and apologized on his behalf. 

"What he was 5 years ago was a naive child who did not understand the negative power and degradation that comes from playing with racial slurs," Usher stated in a lengthy now-deleted Instagram post. He added, "What he is now is a young man faced with an opportunity to become his best self, an example to the millions of kids that follow him to not make the same mistakes." Usher continued to fire back at the critics saying that growth comes with a painful price. “As I have watched Justin Bieber navigate difficult waters as a young man, I can tell you that he hasn’t always chosen the path of his greatest potential, but he is unequivocally not a racist." 

A second video soon resurfaced which showcased the then 15-year-old cracking a mean joke using the controversial word. According to CNN, Bieber can be seen asking, “Why are black people afraid of chainsaws?” before responding to his query by mimicking the sound of a chainsaw with the words, "Run n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****." After undergoing the catastrophic consequences of his irrevocable mistakes Biber issued an apology. “As a young man, I didn’t understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn’t realize at the time that it wasn’t funny and that in fact, my actions were continuing the ignorance,” the statement read. 

In 2019 he advocated for change and urged his fans to fight against racism. "When I was young I was uneducated and found myself saying really hurtful things not knowing the power of my words," he wrote along with a text post that read - Stand against Racism. In 2022, he continued with his social awareness while performing in Rio De Janeiro during his Justice tour. The Independent reported that Bieber advocated unity and equality. 

“You know racial injustice and racism has been an issue for a very long time and one thing that you and I get to do is we get to be the difference makers and stay with our brothers and sisters,” he said while addressing the live crowd. During his Justice tour, Bieber preached the same message at various locations around the world.