Last week, Bieber announced that he would no longer be doing fan meet and greets after his concerts because he found them draining. He posted a message to Instagram, which read, in part, that he will be canceling all meet and greets because he leaves them “feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression.” That’s totally understandable and is his right as an artist. I think he’s an arrogant little ass, but he’s entitled to keep his personal boundaries, especially after a full performance.
The thing is, some fans have already paid for meet and greets. They apparently cost a whopping $2,000. So, instead of returning the money or showing up for the fans who had already paid, Bieber’s people just set up a cardboard cutout of him after his Vegas show and let people pose with that! Apparently people could get refunds but that would have meant that they gave up their concert tickets too. The hell?
Fans who paid thousands for VIP tickets which include the chance to meet the star backstage after his concert, were left disappointed after Bieber announced last week that he was canceling all paid-for public appearances.
Despite the cancellation, fans were unable to get a refund for the $2,000 (£1,409) VIP package to Bieber’s Las Vegas show without also forfeiting their gig ticket, the Mirror reports.
Those that chose to still attend the show found that Bieber had been replaced by cardboard cutout at his backstage meet and greet.
Fans are even more pissed off because Bieber met with hockey great Wayne Gretzky, his wife and their daughter backstage. So Bieber still meets with people, just other celebrities. That’s got to hurt for his fans.
Sidenote: When I went to Madame Tussauds in Berlin there was a 20-something woman who hung all over the Bieber wax figure for at least 15 minutes. I’m not even exaggerating. If that’s what fans do to his likeness, I can’t imagine how annoying it must be for him in person. Still, people paid $2,000 for that. They should have been able to get refunds minus the ticket costs.
Bieber is probably hurting for personal reasons too. He was so close to a reunion with first love Selena Gomez, whom he’s pined over for years, but she just hooked up with singer Charlie Puth, 24. An insider tells US Weekly “It’s not serious, but she’s super into him.” Bieber had planned a romantic gesture for Selena last Wednesday by renting out the entire Staples Center in LA after his performance. He was going to show her Titanic on the big screen. (He previously rented out the Staples Center to screen Titanic for her in 2011.) Instead he bailed on his show 20 minutes early and ditched the venue. It’s assumed he and Selena got into a fight. I would say “poor Bieber,” but I guess now he knows how his fans feel.
*pays $2000 for a Justin Bieber meet and greet ticket* pic.twitter.com/ecvWEQaHMu
— mackenzie (@heavymetalorgy) March 26, 2016
Here’s a shirtless photo Bieber recently Instagrammed. I’m sorry but at least I’m not posting the bare butt one. He’s obviously been cupping.
photos credit: FameFlynet and WENN
2k to pose with a cutout. Awful.
Absolutely should have refunded the meet and greet cost..
He should have at least completed his obligation to fans that already paid or refunded their money without them returning the concert tickets. Then he could say moving forward I will no longer do meet and greet.
I’m sure he probably lost a few fans with this one. Not that he cares.
This. The cardboard cutout is a giant f*** you. Little sh*t
Completely agree – meet the obligation, or give a proper refund. Anything less and the people who bought these should sue for their money back.
Hey, a cardboard cutout has more substance than the “original” in this case. Anyway, bieber should pay $2000 to meet his fans. Anyone who’d stick by this douche after everything he’s done and said deserves the money.
I can take a picture of you with a cardboard Little Maple Leaf and I’ll only charge you $1000. Such a deal!
I would sue him. False advertisement. Misrep. Anything I could make up.
Awful and hilarious, but why on earth are people paying $2000 to take a photo with a pop star for twenty seconds? The mind boggles.
That’s true… You kind of get what you get. If you’re willing to pay my entire tuition cost for yoga teacher training to pose with this little scab, I don’t feel thaaaaaaaat sorry for you. That said, business is business, and it’s sh!tty to screw anyone out of what they pay for, regardless of what that commodity is.
You know what, I agree. After everything he has proven himself to be, if you’re still a fan and idiotic enough to spend that kind of money for a photo, I can’t muster up a lot of sympathy.
It’s not okay to prey upon the mentally reckless. Just because they adore this boy to the tune of 2k doesn’t mean they are any less deserving of an human being than someone who pays 2k to become an “yoga teacher”.
Have to agree with Jen.
“A contract is a contract is a contract”, is the first thing they teach you in law school. People’s opinions regarding the parties entering into the contract, or the purpose of the contract itself, doesn’t matter. He broke the contract and now owes them all that money. End of.
I would be beside myself if I paid $2000 for my kid to do that and it didn’t happen. Well, actually I’d never pay that for my kid. Does he have fans old enough to have $2000 to blow on a concert ticket?
I totally missed this cupping thing. What is it about?
It’s holistic medicine, I believe the origin is chinese. I’ve tried it for back pain and the pain did go away shortly after but that could’ve been coincidental
It’s a form of alternative medicine where small cups are placed on the skin to create suction. The jury’s still out on whether or not cupping therapy is anything other than a placebo but some studies indicate that it may be effective when combined with other treatments like acupuncture or medications in treating things like herpes, acne and other skin conditions. Maybe the little shithead has herpes.
Your last sentence is perfection.
Could be. Cups do feel good on your back or for circulation but it was temporary. I guess you need more treatments.
I don’t know about the Chinese medicine antecedents, but it was real big in medieval Europe. Supposed to protect against the Plague.
I can see why it’s coming back in style. You know how knowledgable and talented with science and medicine medieval europeans were.
Such a waste of money 😩 It’s ridiculous, regardless of whether they’re meeting him or a cutout.
There isn’t a person that exists on this planet that I would pay *any* amount of money to meet much less to pose with a cardboard cutout of their likeness.
Hey, the girl in the photo even smiled! It’s ridiculous.
Me neither. But hey, people do foolish things with their money all the time. So all this gets is a meh and an eye-roll from me.
How is he still a thing at this point? I would have thought all his fans outgrew him.
unfortunately his last album got quite popular. The little cockroach isn’t getting killed just yet.
And, aaawww, he looks so cute with his name on his cap…
*Giggle-snort*
He sold out two arenas in Atlanta. His music tops the charts and is all over pop radio. Get with the times. He is one of the hottest acts around right now.
These are not fans they are classified as hard core stans coz why would anyone pay $2k for 15 seconds with the real thing or cardboard
He’s an artist & should know that it’s a part of his job so grow a dick, stop acting up & behave. He’s where he is today because of his fans. If not for them no one would listen to this “girl voiced” so-called-man.
the cardboard cutout makes it worse imho. that really seems like an even bigger dick move.
The cardboard cut out probably has a better personality.
Beiber is a spoiled immature little douche and I pity his fans for how he treats them. If someone is paying that kind of money to see a celebrity, that celebrity needs to do their job. Fans make or break you.
JB needs a break
what i’m afraid of is that the same fans who are willing to pay a good chunk of college fee to a 1 minute m&g will be the same fans who will blame themselves first or find excuses to justify JB’s douchey behavior. their Biebs can do no wrong.
maybe their parents will not give them money again to see Beiber, but then, the kids may turn and blame their parents instead.
a lot of artists have die hard fans like this… (i mean many people are even worse, like Fists Brown, R Kelly, etc and still have fans; people like Uncle Terry still got work, etc) and they’re the ones who will keep Beibs on the shelf long past his expiry date (which he is, because he has multiple songs in the Top 10 song charts, and his album is still top 5).
this guy ain’t going nowhere.
i wonder though, what if this is a pop songstress. i’m afraid to say but her career might be over in a blink…
Smh, I suddenly realize why I’m so hard on Bieber fans. This kid was so close to disappearing into the mist but those die-hard fans, the kind who pay 2K to ‘meet’ (read 2 second hello and pose/pic) anyone kept him going and now he’s right back to his usual douchiness.
Sucks for them, hope it was their parent’s money.
As for him…he has to learn how to behave like he actually cares about his business. I get depression, I get being drained by his ridiculous clingy fans, but money and legal obligations are just that. Giving them a cardboard cutout is offensive, you get that for free at most concerts/events.
Btw, isn’t Charlie Puth with Meghan Trainer? She and he certainly sucked their respective souls out of eachother’s mouths during some performance at an award’s show.
Apparently the sucking face was just for show and they’re not really together, together.
He should have cancelled m&g before selling the tickets for the tour. I don’t think he have a say on how people can be refunded but this late decision is really unprofessional.
People have too much money. Why not light a cigar with a 100$ bill?
He does not seem to enjoy his life at all.
This is what happens when you get to a point that you have people kissing your butt 24/7 and have enough money to buy anything and go anywhere. It get’s boring. Selena is the only thing he can’t buy and he wants her bad. I don’t think Selena and Charlie are hooking up. They have a new song together and this is probably a pr thing.
I noticed that too. He seems miserable and isolated.
And the bad behavior continues.
This dumbass kid is gonna end up broke like MC Hammer. I’m sure of it.
Yep. Whoever is managing him/giving advice is doing a terrible job.
Would have been a lot cheaper to refund the $2000/per person fee than to pay the legal fees from the inevitable class action lawsuit they’re going to file against him.
2000 bucks.
they should choose the gratis option, because i’m sure Wayne Gretsky and his daughter didn’t pay the 2000$ meet&greet package. (i’m sure his daughter appreciates it though, and will cherish her 13th birthday memory of seeing Beiber’s non-stache up close, not shading the girl at all).
Just a little South of the non-stache… I know he’s always had quite full lips, but the top one now looks rather suss to me, especially in profile, and I n the face-front shot it looks lumpy. The $2000 should have been refunded in full, and the fans allowed to see the show, as a sign of good will and apology. He would have come out smelling so much better.
The little shit is only about 5’3″ tall but the cardboard Beiber looks to be about 6 foot. Dumbass. Like nobody would notice that.
I remember when he finally cut his now infamous hairdo, and a chunk of his hair went on tour. In cased in a giant cube of, what I’ll just assume, bullet proof glass, and had four bodyguards. I could not wrap my head around that one. There aren’t enough crazy pills to take, trying to understand the symptoms of Bieberfever
They should sue the little jackass. WHERE are there parents?
Hey man, Penn & Teller do meet & greets after every show and they don’t charge extra, do shows almost every damn night, and are both up there in age. Put on your big girl panties and suck it up you ungrateful little prick.
What a loathsome creature. Do you think he’s possibly Trump’s love child?
Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun are GREEDY fuxxers. A deal is a deal. They could have refunded the money without requiring the fans to return their concert ticket. I suppose they chose not to do that because Justin is paying for his loser father’s expensive lifestyle and Scooter has a wife and a child to support in an obscenely, extravagant fashion.
How does he have any fans when he treats them so crappy.
Selena likes to toy with him. When it seemed Haley was getting some attention she decided to put the C list girl in her place. Haley is a second string benchwarmer and she wants her to remember that.
I doubt it was Justin’s decision not to refund the money, I don’t think he’s involved in the business aspect of his career. I agree the ones who paid for meet & greets should have gotten full refunds plus free tickets to the concert. That seems fair to me.
Oh please, he is an adult. He’s a stupid adult, but he is an adult. And he is responsible for knowing what his contract requires, and what he has promised to do. And if he takes money from people without giving them the promised experience in return, then he has stolen from them and he is a thief. I don’t buy it that someone else is responsible. Justin Bieber is responsible and he is a thief. Plenty of people have girlfriend problems, and are tired, and exhausted, but we go to work and we do what we have promised. JB doesn’t, because he’s a criminal at heart.
If I were their mom, what I’d have to do would be call my credit card issuer and demand a chargeback. What planet is he living on to think he can get away with this?
I am one of those people where in a super awkward or uncomfortable situation I start to giggle. Its a sort of “embarrassed by association” type thing. That photo of the girl standing with the cardboard cutout made me giggle like that. I mean, that is some special combination of imposed disappointment, humiliation, and semi-desperation right there. Bieber and his management should be thoroughly ashamed, its tantamount to theft. If Justin didnt want to do the meet-and-greets anymore, and his team didnt want to return the money, they should have provided some sort of additional “experience” (a dinner, a ton of merchandise, a backstage tour, maybe they could take a photo wearing an item from one of his outfits from the show, anything really), but to only offer that they can take their photo with a cardboard cutout? Ouch. The fans could have their own cardboard cutout produced quite easily and it would probably only cost them a couple of hundred bucks, if that.
“His right as an artist?” He has no rights as an “artist” beyond what his contract says he has.