Celebrity Gossip!
Justin Bieber attacked rumors prove to be false?
[Jun. 23]
Rumors were swirling on Twitter June 13th that video footage exists of pop music singer Justin Bieber was attacked by a crazed fan, knocked to the ground, and severely beaten while attending a promotion event at a Manhattan department store. Celebrity teen Justin Bieber was in fact at the New York City downtown location of Macy’s to help promote the launch of his new perfume called Someday. Inside the world-famous place, Biebs was fine posing for pictures. The trouble began when he said he planned to step outside on Broadway Avenue to meet an greet a few fans. If was then, a publicity nightmare began to ensue as overly enthusiastic crowd members and Justin Bieber’s staff caused a celebrity scandal rumor that the Biebs was beat up in public by a crazed fan and that the teen singing sensation and staff had no idea what to do.
Local television news station reporters elected to run the following sensational video claiming Justin Bieber was attacked by a crazed fan — igniting the rumors. Claiming eye-witness reports and one female reporter saying she saw first hand that Bieber was clearly shaken by the event, they caused a media surge and fan base panic. Watch the video here: Justin Bieber Attacked By Crazed Fan.
The problem with the media news report was that Bieber was never attacked. What actually happened is when the crowd went wild seeing Justin Bieber, [allegedly] a plain clothes NYC cop acting as a security guard for the store actually jumped behind the fence to assist with crowd control — and the yelling that ensued between he, the police, and Bieber staff was him trying to communicate his officer status to the policemen.
To further complicate the matters, an AP news report went out saying the following (sample picked up by the Washington Post):
Justin Bieber was knocked to the ground in front of hundreds of fans when an unidentified man jumped a barricade and attacked him outside of a promotional appearance in downtown Manhattan Thursday. WABC reports the singer, 17, was not injured. The 47-year-old man was cited for disorderly conduct, reports AP.
By the time they added the following update, the publicity damage was already done — the story went viral and Macy’s reputation for being an unsafe place for star celebs to meet with a crowd had already gone global:
Update, 9 p.m.: Turns out it was all a big “misunderstanding,” says Bieber’s rep. The AP reports that the man was a security guard who was hustling to protect the singer from a surging crowd and then disobeyed orders from police who didn’t know he was part of the Bieber team. So feel free to pretend you never spent any time on this saga.
Since Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend Caitlin Beadles was really stabbed by a crazed fan and Justin Bieber’s new girlfriend Selena Gomez started getting death threats for dating the world’s most eligible budding pubescent gent, tension with security has been high. However, the tension created by worried fans flushed with Bieber fever — like the female news reporter who went live with the story before all the facts were in so she could get the scoop on the event — has been far worse.
Was Justin Bieber attacked? No. Was he a bit startled to see a strange man hop the fence in an effort to protect him from fans? Absolutely. Should the reported have done a brief fact check with Macy’s staff and Justin Bieber’s security team before running a report he was attacked? You bet. Do we know for sure whether or not the man was an off duty NYC policeman acting as an undercover store security guard or just a regular guard? Not yet. But we’ll let you know once the official word is out.
READ MORE:
Celebrity Teen: Justin Bieber fine after crazed fan turns out to be cop?
GREEN CELEBRITY STATS: JUSTIN BIEBER
Justin Bieber is a pet friendly celebrity for sure. The teen scene celeb has actually given his celebrity endorsement to PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals) with stars like Pamela Anderson, Paul McCartney, and even reality TV star Khloe Kardashian. A portion of the proceeds from his new perfume Someday will be donated to charity — and that is the reason the Biebs says he was willing to use his star power to endorse the for-my-girlfriend signature scent. There is no word whether or not actress Selena Gomez wears it.