Sometimes it’s hard to be a Grammy-winning, all-singing all-dancing teenybopper-turned-credible EDM crooner, as Justin Bieber is learning each time he does a meet-and-greet.
The singer, who only started his Purpose World Tour on March 9th, has now cancelled all further opportunities for his fans to get a hug and a photo with him. Posting a photo of himself looking dejected and hugging a young fan on his Instagram, he left this lengthy comment below:
‘Love u guys.. I’m going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy’.
He added: ‘Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression .. The pressure of meeting people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders.’
'Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised. Can’t tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn’t so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I’m in to give you the best show you have ever seen ;)’
It’s pretty damning stuff - is Biebs allergic to his fans? Or is he already finding it hard to deal with how much they love him? On his last promo tour to Europe, he fled a stage in Norway after a group of girls wouldn’t stop touching him as he attempted to mop the stage (of spilled water, not young fans’ tears). Or could it be that his mind is a sponge, picking up sadness from his fans, where it turns to stones inside his gut, leaving him swollen and bloated with melancholy? His management have released this statement to clarify: ‘During a recent show, there was a security incident that cause our team to have to meet and re-think how meet and greets were handled.’
Now, as well as offering refunds to those who’ve paid oodles for a meet and greet, the management will offer ‘a VIP hangout where both pics and videos can be taken of Justin, just no longer a group pic with him.’
Without knowing what security fear happened - it's tough to judge too hard. But, it is worth remembering that just three days ago, Biebs was happy to steal a fan’s hairband at his show!
Meanwhile, on Twitter #WeAreHereForYouJustin is trending, presumably because #WeAreHereForYouJustin,ButAtASafeDistance was a bit too wordy.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.