Justin Bieber has apologised for that video that just came out, which saw him tell a racist joke to his friends during the filming of his documentary Never Say Never.
The clip shows Justin, aged around 15, asking: ‘Why are black people afraid of chainsaws?’ and the the punch-line sees him use the N-word several times.
Biebs responded to the video with a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, saying: 'As a kid, 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 realise at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance. Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologised for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the past have become public, I need to apologise again to all those I have offended. I'm very sorry. I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologise for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again.'
While the apology does sound sincere, his behaviour in the last year or so doesn’t exactly inspire the idea that he might have grown up. His troubles in recent months have included charges of assaulting his driver in Toronto, egging his neighbour’s house in Los Angeles and that alleged drug/drag racing incident in Miami.
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.