Justin Bieber: Pedophiles Control the Evil Music Industry-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
Justin Bieber told a Bible study class that pedophiles control the “evil” music industry in August 2017.
The Truth:
A website known for publishing fabricated news is behind the false reports that Justin Bieber said pedophiles control the music industry during a Bible study class with hundreds of people.
The report appeared at Your News Wire under the headline, “Justin Bieber: Pedophiles Run The ‘Evil’ Music Industry,” on August 5, 2017. The story, which had been shared on social media more than 280,000 times within days, begins:
Justin Bieber told hundreds of people at a Bible study class in Los Angeles that he has “woken up” to the “evils of the music industry” and he needs to take a break from the industry because it is “controlled by the absolute worst kind of people – pedophiles.”
Bieber has become a regular at the Bible study class held at the Montage in Beverly Hills and on Saturday 22nd July he shared what he described as a “horrific story” with the congregation and explained why he felt he had to quit his world tour.
The story then recounts a story told by Justin Bieber in which he was told by music industry executives that he would have to assault an unconscious child to be initiated into the music industry, which would allow him to be a “mogul” and not merely a performer.
The story doesn’t cite any sources, and Your News Wire isn’t exactly a reputable source for news. The site, which falls under a conglomerate of websites called the The People’s Voice, states in its disclaimer that it makes “no representations about the suitability, reliability, availability, timeliness and accuracy of the information” that appears on its sites.
Like most fabricated news stories, this one dove tails with legitimate reports about Justin Bieber canceling the remainder of his “Purpose” world tour in July 2017. Although TMZ and other sites reported that Bieber said he was “just over it” after nearly two years on tour, there were unverified rumors that Bieber ended the tour because of a religious awakening — which dovetails the claim that he told a Bible class that pedophiles run the music industry.
In December 2016, reports merged that Justin Bieber was a born-again Christian, and Bieber talked openly about his religious awakening during interviews. Reports also emerged in early 2017 that Bieber had been “preaching about God” to his opening acts on the “Purpose” tour.
And, while reports about Justin Bieber’s religious views are accurate, the idea that Bieber told a Bible study class that the music industry is run by pedophiles is false.