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Justin Bieber is struggling to trust the people around him — and is isolating himself from some who have been close to him for decades, sources told Page Six.
The 15-year-old who became a global phenomenon with his chart topper “Baby” is now 30, married and the father of a newborn son.
But the singer’s most recent public appearances have left fans and longtime friends worried.
Insiders say the haunted-looking star — who has been open about substance use and anxiety and depression, admitting he previously used Xanax to deal with the “shame” of his promiscuity — is battling the ghosts of his past.
Indeed, Bieber has been drawn into the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs as worrying videos have resurfaced of the disgraced music magnate making TV appearances with the teenage star.
“Do I believe he was involved in some stupid s–t? Yeah,” one industry insider, who worked with Bieber’s team for years, told Page Six. “He was a teenager. He was the biggest pop star in the world. Everyone was worried about him, and we didn’t know if he would survive it. People took advantage of everything he did.”
But a music source said it’s a two-way street: “Justin’s done some really crazy s–t and he’s alienated the people around him. He doesn’t trust them.”
Now, Bieber’s past friendship with Sean “Diddy” Combs — who appeared in a Manhattan court this week for a hearing related to his arrest for racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution — is under scrutiny, as odd videos have resurfaced of the disgraced music magnate making TV appearances with the then-teenage star.
In one clip, Combs, standing alongside 15-year-old Bieber, says to the camera: “He’s having 48 hours with Diddy, where we hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream … for the next 48 hours he’s with me and we’re gonna go full crazy.”
When the two appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2016, Combs boasted of 16-year-old Bieber, “He knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with big brother Puff on national television” — adding, “Everything ain’t for everybody.”
In yet another clip, Combs is seen patting Bieber down — as if checking for a wire — before they get on a private flight.
And in one video, Combs is seen telling the youngster, “You ain’t been calling me and hanging out the way we used to” — which a Hollywood legal source described to Page Six as, “Diddy is basically bullying Justin.”
According to the industry insider, “Family members are concerned about Justin. It’s unclear whether Diddy would have taken advantage of Justin at the time as his family was nearby, and his manager Scooter Braun really did care about him.
“But saying that, Justin did go through a really bad period, a very rebellious phase.”
At age 19, his tour bus was raided by Swedish authorities who turned up unspecified illegal drugs and a stun gun. Months later, Bieber was spotted by paparazzi allegedly sneaking out of a Rio de Janeiro brothel after spending three hours inside.
In January 2014, when he was 20, police raided Bieber’s mansion after he was accused of throwing eggs at his neighbor’s house in Calabasas, Calif. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor vandalism and was ordered to pay $80,000 for the damages he caused.
Two weeks later, he was arrested on drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license for racing down the streets of Miami Beach in a yellow Lamborghini.
Tests later showed Xanax and marijuana in his system; while his alcohol level was under the legal limit, he was not yet of legal age to drink. He eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor careless driving and resisting arrest and was ordered to undergo anger management and DUI education courses.
Seven years later, Bieber posted a photo of himself leaving jail in 2014, writing, “Not proud of where I was at in my life. I was hurting, unhappy, confused, angry, mislead [sic], misunderstood and angry at god.. I also wore too much leather for someone in Miami.”
In 2017, he was banned from touring China for “bad behavior.” That same year, his concert tour was cut short when the singer experienced burnout.
Braun admitted in 2018 that there had been a point when Bieber’s partying was so out of control, it wasn’t clear if he would make it.
“I thought he was going to go to sleep one night and have so much crap in his system that he would not wake up the next morning,” Braun told “The Red Pill” podcast in 2018. “There was a time where I would go to sleep almost every night, when he had the money to fly away from me, and I was worried every night that I was going to lose him.”
That year, Bieber married Hailey Baldwin following a longtime on-and-off romance with Selena Gomez. Not long after, the singer revealed that he was battling depression.
He opened up about his mental health and struggles with drug use in the 2020 YouTube documentary “Justin Bieber: Seasons.”
“There was a time where I was sipping Lean [Codeine cough syrup and soda], I was popping pills, I was doing Molly, you know, shrooms, everything,” Bieber revealed. “It was just an escape for me.”
And the singer wept on camera in 2020 as he told Apple Music host Zane Lowe about wanting to protect singer Billie Eilish, who was then 18.
“It was hard for me being that young and being in the industry and not knowing where to turn, and everyone telling me they loved me, and turn their back on you in a second,” Bieber explained. “I just want to protect her. I don’t want her to go through anything I went through. I don’t wish that upon anybody.”
At his lowest point, Bieber turned to the Hillsong church and grew very close to pastor Carl Lentz, even staying with him and his family in New Jersey for extended periods of time.
But the singer has made it clear he’s no longer a member of Hillsong and, in April 2021, he hit out at pastors who let fame go to their heads.
“I think so many pastors put themselves on this pedestal,”Bieber told GQ, without making a direct reference to Hillsong or Lentz, who, in 2020, was fired for “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures” including affairs, abuse allegations, and an Adderall addiction.
“[It’s] basically, church can be surrounded around the man, the pastor, the guy, and it’s like, ‘This guy has this ultimate relationship with God that we all want but we can’t get because we’re not this guy,’ ” Bieber told GQ. “That’s not the reality, though. The reality is, every human being has the same access to God.”
Bieber still remains a churchgoer and was spotted attending a Churchome service in Beverly Hills days after his wife, Hailey, gave birth to their son, Jack Blues, in August.
Last week, the Biebers celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary at Baltaire Restaurant in Los Angeles — Bieber looked gaunt in sunglasses and a trucker hat.
The singer’s family are said to be in love with baby Jack, the industry insider said, adding, “People have tried to take advantage of Justin for a long time. We just don’t want anything to divert from Jack and his life now.”
Bieber sold the publishing rights and artist royalties from his song catalog to music investment company Hipgnosis, in a deal valued at just over $200 million, in January 2023.
“Most superstars sell their entire catalog when they’re about 60 or 70, so it begs the question why Justin chose to do this now. I was told he was going through his money like water,” a highly placed music source familiar with Bieber and his family told Page Six.
The singer’s fortune is currently estimated to be around $285 million — mainly boosted by the publishing deal.
“Justin is truly a once in a generation artist and that is reflected and acknowledged by the magnitude of this deal,” Braun said at the time.
Although Braun no longer manages Bieber and the two are rarely in contact, the singer is still signed to his company, Hybe.
Bieber took hold of his finances in June after parting with longtime business manager Lou Taylor — whose former client Britney Spears accused her of pushing her into a conservatorship. He then hired Johnny Depp’s financial manager, Edward White.
Taylor, who runs the company Tri Star, is also caught up in Combs’ legal row. Her employee Robin Greenhill — who previously worked as Spears’ assistant — was named as the accountant who allegedly oversaw payments for Combs to sex workers. This is according to music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, who accused Combs of sexually harassing, drugging and threatening him.
In a statement, Combs denied the accusations and branded Jones a “liar.”
All of these changes by Bieber have concerned his inner circle.
“People who have been around him for years do get upset [about what’s going on with him,” said the music industry source. “Yes, they made money from him, but they were loyal and now he’s swapped them for people who don’t know him. He’s surrounded by a lot of yes men.”
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