Justin Bieber has had fans worried as of late.
The star has seemed to look unwell in photos, and he’s been making odd statements on his Instagram Stories. Last week seemed to mark a particularly low point for him. He took to social media and wrote, “People told me my whole life ‘wow Justin u deserve that’ and I personally have always felt unworthy… Damn if only they knew my thoughts. How judgmental I am, how selfish I really am… I definitely feel unequipped and unqualified most days.”
Of course, Bieber could just have been letting off some steam, but the cryptic messages added to his gaunt appearance don’t make for a very promising picture. And now another one has come along.
Yesterday, the music superstar went to Instagram and wrote a message about “hate.” Fans are trying to work out what it means. “I was always told when I was a kid not to hate,” began the post, which was written in all caps. “But it made me feel like I wasn’t allowed to have it and so I didn’t tell anyone I’ve had it. Which made me feel like I have been drowning feeling unsafe to acknowledge it.”
The references to “drowning” and “feeling unsafe” are obviously concerning. “I think we can only let hate go by first acknowledging it’s there,” Bieber’s post went on. “How couldn’t we feel hate from all of the hurt we have experienced?”
Justin Bieber’s team has insisted for a few weeks now that there’s nothing wrong with him. In February, they told TMZ that he wasn’t using drugs, but rather had had the past few years be, “very transformative for him as he ended several close friendships and business relationships that no longer served him.” All in all, the rep said, he was “in one of the best places of his life.” However, Bieber has certainly suffered from substance abuse issues in the past and fans don’t want him going down that path again, especially since he’s now the father of a child with Hailey Baldwin.
This all comes at a time when the mental health of music artists is under discussion in the wake of Liam Payne’s tragic death. The One Direction star died falling from a hotel balcony during a period of poor mental health. Like Bieber, he was a father of one with the world at his feet. After the tragedy, there was an outpouring of people, including some big names, demanding changes be made in the music industry. Bieber himself paid tribute to Payne by reposting a clip to Instagram Stories of flowers being laid at a memorial for him, adding the saddening words “rest easy Liam” and a broken heart emoji.
Hopefully, someone is looking out for Bieber right out. Maybe nothing is wrong, maybe there are no drugs, but there are enough red flags in his recent messages to spark fears from the army of Beliebers.