Justin Bieber, now 20, is taking responsibility for using racial slurs as a teen. In two videos that surfaced in June, a younger Bieber can be seen using the "N" word on two separate occasions -- instances that he says were the result of his own ignorance. "As a young man, 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 realize at the time that it wasn't funny," the star said in a statement. Jonah Hill has also owned up to yelling a homophobic slur at a paparazzo, which was seen on a video released by TMZ on Tuesday, June 3. The actor said to the photographer, "Suck my d***, you f*****." He later told radio host Howard Stern that he was frustrated by his own words: "From the day I was born and publicly I've been a gay rights activist. ... I played into exactly what (the paparazzo) wanted and lost my cool. And in that moment, I said a disgusting word that does not at all reflect how I feel about any group of people." Actor James Franco criticized The New York Times' theater critic, Ben Brantley, over a lukewarm review of the Broadway revival "Of Mice and Men." "Brantley is such a little b****," the actor said in an April Instagram takedown that he later removed -- but not before it was screengrabbed for posterity. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow angered some after she was quoted in an interview comparing the "dehumanizing" experience of dealing with negative Internet comments to surviving a war. Reese Witherspoon might seem prim on the red carpet, but the actress has been caught making more than one slip of the tongue. When the actress was arrested in April 2013 after having "one drink too many," she chastised the arresting officer for not recognizing he was arresting a celebrity. "Do you know my name?" she asked. When the officer replied that he didn't, Witherspoon shot back, "You're about to find out who I am." And then there was the time Witherspoon was caught giving advice to Cara Delevingne, Kate Upton and Zooey Deschanel, reportedly after the 2014 Met Gala. The Southern actress was taped saying, "The most important thing in a name for a girl is that a man can whisper it in his pillow." Charles Barkley, while covering a basketball game for TNT, got caught on a hot mic while saying that his Weight Watchers endorsement deal was a "scam." The company saw the humor in it and released a statement saying: "We love Charles for the same reason everyone loves Charles. He's unfiltered." Adam Levine learned the hard way that you have to watch it before you speak. "The Voice" judge found himself facing some serious backlash in May 2013 after his disappointment over voting results led to him uttering, "I hate this country." He released a statement trying to clarify what he meant, saying that he was frustrated. Madonna was on her best behavior at the "W.E." news conference, seen here during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. But at the Venice Film Festival that same year, she was caught saying "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas" after a fan gave her the flowers. Almost everything that Kanye West says can be met with a debate, and that includes his comment in November about his use of the Confederate flag on some of his new merchandise. The rapper told Los Angeles radio station 97.1 AMP that observers can "react how you want. Any energy is good energy. You know the Confederate flag represented slavery in a way -- that's my abstract take on what I know about it. So I made the song 'New Slaves.' So I took the Confederate flag and made it my flag. It's my flag. Now what are you going to do?" Like Kanye West, Alec Baldwin's commentary is a magnet for controversy. From once calling his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" to using anti-gay slurs, it's no wonder that the actor is trying to keep quiet these days. There are times when he can't help himself, though, and his May arrest for riding his bike the wrong way was one of them. "New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity," Baldwin tweeted upon his release. Politicians have to deal with this type of thing all of the time, and U.S. President Barack Obama is no exception. After Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Awards in 2009, the commander-in-chief called the rapper a "jackass" while waiting for an interview to start. West was reportedly not amused. In January 2013, director Quentin Tarantino was doing press for his film "Django Unchained" when Britain's Channel 4 reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy asked him whether he thinks movie violence can lead to actual violence. Tarantino shot back, saying: "You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey," and "I'm shutting your butt down!" When you're as famous as Britney Spears, it pays to first ask for someone to repeat the question. When she was asked for her thoughts on the passing of fellow former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, the star accidentally responded, "I think that's great." Who can forget the 2005 "Today Show" interview when actor Tom Cruise, taking exception to Matt Lauer's questions, accused the host of being "glib"? "Matt, you're glib. ... You don't even know what Ritalin is," Cruise said during a discussion about prescription drugs. It was a little tense. Mel Gibson's mouth has been a famous source of trouble for the movie star, and in 2010 it happened again. The actor was being interviewed about his film "Edge of Darkness" by WGN reporter Dean Richards when Gibson was asked about various scandals, including an anti-Semitic rant. "That's almost four years ago, dude," Gibson said. "I've moved on. I guess you haven't." The actor could be heard calling Richards an a**hole at the end. Actor Samuel L. Jackson is not Laurence Fishburne, and he's been very clear about that. In February, Jackson scolded KTLA's Sam Rubin for misidentifying him. "You're as crazy as the people on Twitter," Jackson said during a live TV interview. "We may be all black and famous, but we all don't look alike. You're busted." In March, late-night host Chelsea Handler challenged CNN's Piers Morgan, calling him unfocused. "You can't even pay attention for 60 seconds," she said. "You're a terrible interviewer."
- Website TMZ has posted a new video of singer Justin Bieber
- In the video, a then 14-year-old Justin sings the "N-word"
- Source says Bieber was corrected by his mentor, Usher
(CNN) -- Another racially insensitive video featuring Justin Bieber has surfaced.
On Wednesday, the site TMZ posted a video of a then 14-year-old Bieber changing the words to his hit "One Less Lonely Girl" to include the "N-word" and singing about joining the Ku Klux Klan.
A source close to Bieber confirms to CNN that the singer was 14 at the time of the incident and made the recording after he saw a comedian parodying his "One Less Lonely Girl" song online.
In the parody, the comic replaced some of the lyrics with racist words including "n*****," the source said.
In Bieber's video, he sings "There'll be one less lonely n*****" and adds "If I kill you, I'll be part of the KKK."
The source close to the singer added that the teen immediately realized his error and and told his mentors, singer Usher and actor Will Smith, about the video. Usher, who wrote "One Less Lonely Girl," showed Bieber some historically racist videos in an effort to teach him about the hurtful nature of such words, the source said.
Now 20, Bieber reportedly wants to take full responsibility for his youthful actions.
This latest video comes just days after Bieber apologized for another video in which the pop star, then 15, is seen making a racist joke.
In that video, which was also posted on TMZ, Bieber asks, "Why are black people afraid of chain saws?" before answering his own question with the statement "Run n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****," imitating the sound of a chain saw.
"As a young man, 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 realize at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance," Bieber said in a statement after the release of the first video.
"I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously, and I apologize 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."
The source said that over the years, there have been various extortion attempts made with people demanding money from Bieber to not surface the videos.
CNN's Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment