These are some outtakes from Rihanna’s Terry Richardson photo shoot for her Rolling Stone cover. The shots aren’t as bad as I would expect – Uncle Terry turns the most average-looking girls into p0rn stars, so when he starts out with someone pretty like Rihanna, the result is… interesting. It’s still kind of p0rny, but it’s definitely not as gross as it could be. Anyway, I have a story to tell you, and it’s sad/funny/gross. Did Rihanna hook up with Justin Bieber at some point? Ugh.

Are Justin Bieber and Rihanna more than just friends? Selena is reportedly “devastated” and can’t believe Justin would do this to her. But isn’t Rihanna dating Chris Brown?

The report claims that Selena discovered the news and immediately dumped Justin.

“It really cut like a knife because it happened in February 2011, when Selena and Justin had been dating for months and were falling in love. It’s caused Selena to question their entire relationship.”

Sources close to Justin say that he would “never” hook up with Rihanna and nothing physical every happened.

“He would never tell anyone he messed around with Rihanna because it would make him look like a dirty dog.”

Selena actually thinks that Justin and Rihanna have been “hooking up all along.” Wow, now that would be pretty crazy!

According to this report, Selena believes it happened many times during the wild parties Rihanna threw at her LA home or at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills where Justin stays often. But the most crazy allegation is that they hooked up over the few days they were in NYC to film the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!

“During breaks they’d sneak away to hotel Giraffe,” a source says. “They were alone, their security made sure of it. Hotel staff blocked off the entire floor for them.”

Even though Selena and Justin were spotted at the YLA show on Feb. 2, the singer has reportedly moved on and doesn’t want him back.

[From Hollywood Life]

At first I was like, “This is so gross, of course it never happened.” But then I thought about it – would you really be that shocked and appalled to learn that Rihanna fooled around with Justin Bieber? I wouldn’t. It seems strangely in character for her. Remember, Rihanna was fooling around with Ryan Phillippe for a while too, and Ryan’s just an older version of Justin Bieber (Yeah, I said it). As for Justin… well, I’ve always felt he has a thing for darker ladies. Even before he got with Selena, he seemed to have a type – Latinas, black ladies and even an Armenian. So it totally could have happened.

Photos courtesy of Jlnphotography/wenn, Terry Richardson (via Rihanna’s Instagram) and WENN.com.

Here are some new photos of Justin Bieber on Friday – he drove his white Lambo to a horse ranch and he and his bros went to ride some horse, bro. Horses are the new Fisker Karma! DUDE. Even though I think Justin Bieber looks like a little d-bag toddler on that poor horse (caption contest: the horse’s thought-bubble), I can’t really hate on him for riding a horse or taking riding lessons or whatever is going on here. I’d rather see him on a horse as opposed to speeding away in his white Lambo. Speaking of…

The white Lambo has been stopped TWICE in the span of two day. On Friday, Justin’s car was stopped in West Hollywood initially because of the tinted windows. But Justin wasn’t driving – he loaned the Lambo out to Lil Za (?), who didn’t even have a license. Lil Za was going to be arrested but instead the police just cited him and released him. Then on Saturday Lil Za was driving the Lambo AGAIN and he was ticketed for an illegal U-turn. Justin just has no sense of whether or not to lend out his car to irresponsible members of his douche entourage.

As for the douche entourage and their effect on Justin… TMZ also reports that Biber is still partying with Sweet Lady Sizzurp.

Justin Bieber partied with his boyz this week … and there are photos that appear to show a large bottle of codeine at the shindig — aka sizzurp.

The photos show Justin, Lil Za and Lil Twist (we’re told both of whom have smoked pot with Bieber) at a table rolling up blunts. Also on the table — two sets of double cups (a known style of consuming sizzurp which was made popular by Lil Wayne).

In one of the photos, Bieber is drinking out of a double cup. Sources connected to Justin adamantly deny he uses the drug. Based on multiple recent photos, however, it’s pretty obvious he smokes pot. In the pics, we don’t see anyone present actually consuming the drug.

Bieber is getting pressure from some of his people who think he’s basically a good kid … but hanging out with Za, Twist and some other dudes are taking him down a bad road.

We couldn’t reach Za for comment. As for Twist, we reached out to his rep — so far, no response.

[From TMZ]

In my wild youth, I was exposed to various drugs, some of which I took part in and some of which I could dismiss out of hand. Like, I’ve never done lines. I’ve never tried coke at all, because I never wanted to “snort” anything. But if sizzurp had been a thing when I was younger, I probably would have done it. As for the blunts… I smoked a lot of pot in my youth. I don’t judge Bieber for getting high, mostly because I think smoking some weed is probably his best option for “youthful shenanigans”.

Last thing – E! News says Selena Gomez was spotted exiting Justin’s house on Saturday. They think Justin and Selena might be getting back together? I don’t know though. It seems like Selena is pretty happy with being single.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Has it been a while since I’ve done a Justin Bieber story? It feels like a while, probably because I’m #TeamGomez and I’d rather talk about Selena in general. Anyway, Justin is out and about, promoting his new album (Believe Acoustic). He was in Miami yesterday, and the header photo comes from a “meet and greet” session he did with fans. This is what “newly single” Justin Bieber does – he gropes his fans. He cops a feel. He gets to second base.

Quite honestly, I’ve spent way too much time examining this photo, and from the coverage I’ve seen on other sites, there are mixed opinions about what is actually going on here. Like, is this girl underage? Some claim she is – although I think that face looks 20-something. And did she request that Justin grope her, or did he just decide that this would be the best way to “give back” to his fans? Is this assault? Or is it the start of a grand romance where Justin requires his fan-girlfriend to dress up like Selena Gomez before they have sex? Sigh…

As for his feelings about the actual Selena Gomez – Justin has written a song about the breakup called “Nothing Like Us” – you can hear the song and read more about it here at Billboard. Also, Justin is going to be hosting Saturday Night Live two Saturdays from now. That’s the Saturday before the Grammys – Justin isn’t going to the Grammys because he wasn’t nominated. In Justin’s Billboard interview, he also says that he’s going to be rooting for Chris Brown at the Grammys. Because of course.

Some photos of The Bieb in Florida yesterday. Ugh.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and Bieber Fever.

This is truly the Instagram generation, and Justin Bieber has given the world a legitimate laugh by posting a photo to his account that shows the world what it looks like when he actually pulls his pants up: “To those of u who tell me not to sag my pants. Double think that.” I hate to say it … but the kid has a point.

Not that Justin’s social media habit is all good, of course, because he messed it all up in a very gross way by giving Instagram-obsessed Rihanna a run for her controversial money when he posted a photo of his own naked ass over the weekend. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t even dream of posting a photo of the Bieber ass here, but you can see it here in all its dubious glory if you’re morbidly curious enough to subject yourself to the Bieber half crack. Yes, I’ve seen the picture, and I’m now tortured by it in my mind’s eye. Why did Bieber do this to us? Surely, he had to be stoned to do so, and of course, he pulled the picture and is now laughing it off in the aftermath:

Justin Bieber is full of surprises. On the heels of his recent breakup with Selena Gomez and a headline-making marijuana controversy, the 18-year-old singer showed off his bare butt in an Instagram picture Saturday, Jan. 19.

Wear a black tank top, a baseball hat and aviator sunglasses, the “Beauty and the Beat” singer peers over his shoulder in the image. Bieber deleted the image shortly after it was posted to his official account, though it had already been liked more than 15,000 times and received more than 2,700 comments.

Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, joked about the picture via Twitter. “As a prankster you have to respect another good prank,” he wrote. “Only makes sense. #crackdealer.” Bieber’s succinct reply: “Haha.”

[From Us Weekly]

Should I be more amused or disturbed that the Bieber butt was “liked” over 15,000 times in the space of a few minutes? At least he didn’t deny that it was his butt, but Biebs showed very poor judgment by posting any nudity to a social media account that is followed by millions over tweens around the world. Bad move. He probably doesn’t care though and likely only removed the photo because his creepy manager told him to do so.

Photos courtesy of Instagram

Last month, I just got to the point where I stopped caring about Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber and whether they were together or broken up or somewhere in between. They broke up and got back together A LOT, which is totally typical for kids their age, but it just got exhausting and I got bored when they didn’t follow the expected pattern of many high-profile splits, which would be: a definitive split, a public confirmation of the split, dueling photo-ops from both parties, followed by lots and lots of details from “sources” about what went wrong. I have no problem believing that Justin cheated on Selena – a lot. I believe he was and is a needy, self-absorbed brat and that Selena had her hands full. I also think Selena was being told that she needed his for her career.

Anyway, Us Weekly’s sources are now saying the split has gone down again, and this time is FOR REAL and it’s the final split. They say it went down over the New Year’s holiday, and that Selena cut the trip off to fly home after a few days, which is apparently exactly what happened between Taylor Swift and Harry Styles too. This “final” split is apparently why Justin has been “acting out” by smoking a doob.

No wonder Justin Bieber has been acting out: Days before the pop star, 18, was caught smoking pot in shocking TMZ photos, he and girlfriend Selena Gomez have parted ways yet again — this time for good, multiple sources tell the new Us Weekly, out now.

Although Bieber and the singer-actress, 20, journeyed to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico for a New Year’s trip, their happy holiday was cut short when Gomez abruptly flew home to Los Angeles on Dec. 30. “They had another huge fight, and Selena won’t forgive him,” an insider tells Us Weekly of the perpetually on-again, off-again pair.

It certainly seems final this time — with Gomez spending New Year’s Eve at an L.A. house party with pals, while Bieber rang in 2013 with rapper pal Lil Twist at L.A. club Couture, where he flirted with various girls. “He’s been really down about the breakup,” a source admits.

Citing Bieber’s “bad influence,” another pal insists: “Selena is done with him.” For more details on the breakup, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands Friday.

[From Us Weekly]

Well… whatever. I hope this one sticks, for our collective sanity. Do you think it’s interesting that BFFs Taylor and Selena dumped their boyfriends in exactly the same way in the exact same time frame? On holiday for NYE, leaving a tropical vacation in a huff to fly home with a declaration of “IT’S SO OVER!” I wonder if Swifty and Selena planned it.

Photos courtesy of Jlnphotography/wenn and WENN./

Justin Bieber is back on tour as of Saturday night when he performed in Salt Lake City, Utah, but these aren’t photos from that concert. Instead, these are pictures from last November’s show at Madison Square Garden in NYC, but don’t worry. I’m pretty sure not much has changed in Bieb’s onstage routine, which includes Justin flying in on giant mechanical wings like a Douche Ex Machina. That’s a well-deserved nickname for a guy who alternates running around shirtless with attempting to look like a “serious” musician plunking away at a baby grand piano.

So let’s update with some Bieber news. Dude has acquired yet another new tattoo (of an Indian headdress) on his left shoulderblade, and this latest inking arrives just weeks after his massive rose/praying hands tattoo. Bieb’s also been trying to do some good deeds in the aftermath of the paparazzo death scandal in which a photog made the ill-fated decision to risk it all to get pictures of Bieber. Beieber was not present during the incident but made a point of denying smoking pot earlier in the day. Of course, TMZ then acquired photos of Justin jovially sucking on a joint the day after the pap’s death.

According to Us Weekly, Bieber’s team is very upset about the pot-smoking photos, so they’re trying to clean up Justin’s image. In Salt Lake City, Justin visited a sick little girl who has leukemia and couldn’t make it to his concert, and then he retweeted several news stories that covered the topic. He also tweeted a bunch of “inspirational” statements too, including “i see all of you. i hear all of you. i never want to let any of you down. i love u. and..thank u. #beliebers.” Here are the relevant tweets, and it’s kind of amusing to see the radio silence on Jan. 4 when the incriminating photos were released:

Bieber’s team has another new tactic in their arsenal to help repair their boy’s image. They’re blaming his BFF, Lil Twist, who was driving the car that the now-dead paparazzo was chasing. According to TMZ, “sources involved in Justin’s life who care about him are deeply concerned that Twist has become a powerful negative influence in his life and feel very strongly Justin needs a clean break from the rapper or else bad things are going to happen.” The Mail is also losing its sh-t over the fact that Lil Twist openly smokes weed. Here is a photo from Twist’s Instagram, which shows the 19-year-old rapper pouring champagne for himself and 18-year-old Justin on New Year’s Eve. (The two were in Mexico, where it’s legal for 18 year-olds to drink.)

This is a full-on view of Lil Twist, btw. He’s got the same pants problem as Bieber. They probably make a rowdy old pair together, and I think it’s pretty suspect that Bieber’s team has (probably) leaked the information about Twist being a “negative influence” on Bieber. I suspect that Biebs really needs no help in that department.

Photos courtesy of WENN

The gossip world is still abuzz with the aftermath of the tragic situation wherein a paparazzi, while in hot pursuit of a Justin Bieber scoop, was run over by a neighboring vehicle. Let’s be perfectly clear that the car that ran over the photographer (Chris Guerra) was (in no uncertain terms) not operated by Bieber, and even the car that carried Biebs was allegedly not driven by him either. Sadly (for the photog), none of this would be of much consequence where Bieber himself is concerned except that I certainly don’t understand why any pictures of Bieber (even with an alleged Selena Gomez reunion) could possibly be worth anyone’s life. But alas, someone’s life is exactly what was sacrificed for photos of Douche Ex Machina. Crazy.

At any rate, Justin did not act in a very proper manner in the aftermath of the aforementioned photog’s death. I mean, he didn’t exactly know the guy, so no one expected him to go all out with full remorse, but Bieber’s reaction was (naturally) full of the self-preservation instinct. Biebs promptly issued a statement that called for “meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves.” Never mind that (as Kaiser noted) there are already existing traffic laws that are applicable to the situation at hand. Also, Bieber was allegedly sighted smoking marijuana preceding the accident, but that would also be irrelevant if (as the story goes) Bieber wasn’t driving. Interestingly enough though, Bieber was surreptitiously photographed smoking pot (even though he previously denied smoking it) the day after the accident, and TMZ (who has the photos) reports upon the story:

Justin Bieber kicked off the new year on a real high note — clutching a smoldering blunt at a big party inside a Newport Beach hotel room this week … and TMZ has the photos.

The pics were snapped on January 2nd — the day after a paparazzo was killed while trying to take photos of Bieber’s Ferrari — and it’s pretty obvious … Bieber wasn’t feeling too bad about the whole situation.

Sources at the party tell TMZ, Bieber’s BFF Lil Twist was there too — the 19-year-old rapper who was driving the Biebs’ Ferrari at the time the paparazzo was killed.

According to sources, Twist and his brother were rolling all the blunts and smoking everyone up … and there was a LOT of pot smoke.

It’s pretty ironic — considering sources close to Bieber were insistent … the photog who was killed lied when he said Justin was smoking weed hours before the fatal accident.

And there’s this — we’re told Bieber had security present … but no one seemed to mind that people were snapping photos.

As for talking points — sources tell us Bieber was chatting it up about how tired he was because he’d been staying up late recently. Shockingly, we’re told the conversation eventually turned to late night fast food … and where they could get it.

We’re told a girl also crashed in the hotel room with Justin — NOT Selena. It’s unclear if they hooked up.

Bieber’s people had no comment.

[From TMZ]

There’s a lot to digest here, but honestly, I don’t see much of a point in discussing the girl who spent the night with Justin while he’s supposedly still dating Selena Gomez. That part of the story? Meh. Now about those late-night, fast-food munchies that came up in the conversation of Justin and his pot-smoking buddies. Contrary to semi-popular belief, I don’t speak from an anti-pot stance, but I will admit to not personally enjoying marijuana (after trying it thrice in my late teens) because I don’t like the way it smells, and the munchies were a very negative side effect of the drug. Although I can see why it appeals to Justin Bieber, who is attempting to appear more manly after turning 18 and declaring himself a “swaggy adult.”

This story really is a mess though. Not only does Justin have a history of reckless driving and a history of egging on the paparazzi, but now an actual person has died while trying to take photos of Bieber. While I don’t think that this particular incident is Justin’s fault, he certainly is adding fuel to the fire with his blatant pot smoking (and jovial attitude) in the aftermath of this paparazzo’s death.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

You know I’m old, right? Not super-old, but I’m definitely old enough to remember very specific details about Princess Diana and her death and the gigantic clusterf—k of blame, accusations and idiocy that followed that tragedy. I remember George Clooney coming out and blasting the hell out of the paparazzi/stalkarazzi culture. I remember for a brief moment, it seemed like the media was going to turn inward and have a frank discussion amongst itself about what was and was not appropriate. And I remember The Earl of Spencer, Diana’s brother, excoriating the press AND the monarchy for basically leaving his sister dangling in the wind post-divorce. I also remember how Diana managed her own press – at time brilliantly, and mostly to her advantage – and how SHE refused royal protection (because she correctly assumed her protection officers were selling information about her to the press). I also remember that Diana probably wouldn’t be dead today if Henri Paul hadn’t been drunk off his ass, or if Dodi Fayed hadn’t nonsensically wanted to leave the secure cocoon of the Hotel Ritz for his own apartment across town.

Basically, I remember a lot. I don’t go in for Diana conspiracy theories, but I will engage in the occasional “what ifs” of the circumstances of her death, and I try to be pragmatic about assigning blame. Was it the paparazzi’s fault? Partly. But it was also a drunk driver and a coked-up boyfriend and a princess who didn’t wear a seatbelt. It was also a royal protection service (and a royal staff system) that allowed payoffs and bribes for information, leading to well-earned mistrust and disloyalty, which left Diana feeling as if she could trust no one.

As I said… I’m old. Miley Cyrus is NOT old. Miley doesn’t know what the f—k she’s talking about. She decided to tweet out some nonsense about the paparazzo who was killed while photographing Justin Bieber’s car during a traffic stop. Miley tweeted this:

[Via Miley’s Twitter]

“Conscience” not “conscious”. And it’s not super-classy to just flat-out blame the paparazzo who thought it was super-cool to stand in the middle of the street talking photos (I’m not as angry at Miley for that one though). Mostly I’m just mad that Miley improperly invoked Diana’s death in a situation that doesn’t compare. And while you could make arguments for or against keeping a tighter rein on the paparazzi, Miley is definitely not the celebrity to make that case, you know?

Oh, and Justin Bieber issued a statement about the paparazzo’s death too, saying: “While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders, and the photographers themselves.” I still don’t really understand? There are already laws about traffic safety and all of that. Shouldn’t this be a call to ENFORCE existing laws?

Photos courtesy of WENN and Jlnphotography/wenn.

On Monday, a paparazzo was hit and killed by a car while attempting to photograph Justin Bieber’s white Ferrari after a traffic stop. Bieber was allegedly not driving, nor was he in the car. It happened when the photographer stood out in traffic attempting to get a shot, after he was warned by police to step back. TMZ has more about the man who was killed, along with detail about the scoop on Bieber he was allegedly after. There’s plenty of information, and it all boils down to a sad situation highlighting the dangers paparazzi can pose to themselves and others.

* Bieber has issued a statement expressing his sympathy to the family and stating that he was not present at the time of the accident. He’s also calling for anti-paparazzi laws to protect celebrities, bystanders and photographers. *Kaiser covered Bieber’s full statement in her earlier story about Miley Cyrus. As Kaiser mentioned, there are laws in place already in California to protect against the paparazzi, although it’s unclear whether they’re being enforced. (See below)

*TMZ revealed that the photographer’s name was Chris Guerra, that he was in his late 20s, and that he moved to LA in March in order to become a paparazzo. Guerro was single with no children.

*Guerra’s friend, an unnamed source who worked at a photo agency, told TMZ that Guerra called him and said he was certain that he saw Justin Bieber smoking marijuana while driving his car earlier in the day. What’s more is that Guerra claims to have spotted Selena Gomez’s car at the Four Seasons, where Bieber was staying. Guerra’s friend explained that Guerra was “overzealous” because, in TMZ’s words, “he believed he was on the cusp of an enormous scoop.” The friend partially blames Bieber for Guerra being in the situation that led to his death, due to how recklessly Bieber regularly drives.

*The person driving Bieber’s Ferrari at the time Guerra was tailing it was Bieber’s buddy, a 19 year-old rapper named Lil Twist. Apparently Lil Twist had just partied in Mexico with Bieber for New Year’s (because the two underage stars could legally drink there) and was hanging out with Bieber at the Four Seasons in LA. Bieber lent Lil Twist the keys to his Ferrari, and Guerra took off in pursuit, incorrectly assuming that Bieber was driving. There’s no word as to who the passenger in the car was, as we’ve heard there was more than one person in the car.

*In response to allegations that he was spotted smoking up, a source told TMZ that Bieber hated Guerra (I’m paraphrasing) and that Guerra “made Justin’s life hell … following and chasing him at every opportunity.” Bieber’s people also claim to have a solid alibi for their client that would exclude the possibility that he was getting high in his car. TMZ writes that their “sources say multiple witnesses will say the only time Justin left the Four Seasons on New Year’s Day was to go to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles in Hollywood for lunch, and there was never a pipe in sight.”

*Sources also tell TMZ that there’s no way Guerra could have spotted Selena Gomez’s car at the Four Seasons because the on-off lovebirds “had a blow-out argument on December 30 and broke up… They haven’t seen each other since and she was never at the Four Seasons on New Year’s Day.” TMZ’s source goes on to say that Bieber had “‘very little respect’ for Chris Guerra but was trying not to say anything out of respect for the family, but Chris made it ‘very difficult by telling this guy (his friend) lies about Justin.’”

I have a lot of questions about this story that will probably never be answered. I want to know if Guerra was positive he saw Bieber smoking up and driving, or if it was possibly Lil Twist. If it was Bieber getting high, and Bieber realized he was seen smoking, did he possibly send Lil Twist (I can’t with that name) out in his Ferrari to deliberately throw Guerra off his trail? Why is Bieber so adamant that Selena Gomez wasn’t with him on that day, and what difference does it make?

Also, I’m wondering if the same guy that Justin Bieber stopped traffic for this November in order to tell him off. You can see a video of that here. Justin just sits there in his Ferrari while drivers behind him beep at him to move it. He tells the person filming that he’s “just not fun” and asks him “What do your parents think about what you do?”

There was another incident, in July, in which Bieber was cited for going over 100 mph on the freeway and a paparazzo faced charges for pursuing him. That was a different photographer, a guy named Paul Reef. The judge threw out the case, and ruled that the California anti-paparazzi law, passed in January, 2011, was unconstitutional.

Oh and in May Bieber was a suspect in a case of possible battery against a photographer. It looks like a different guy was involved there, too, but I can’t tell for sure. That case was also thrown out.

So does this mean that the anti-paparazzi law needs to withstand more legal battles before it can be enforced? This sad incident just brings more attention to the fact that something needs to be done. I also wish that Bieber’s people would move him somewhere remote. That would solve so much.

Update: I wanted to clarify that I wasn’t blaming Justin at all in this story. What happened is that I got really focused on the details while I was covering this, and I realized that there were more details that I wanted to know about what happened, that were unanswered. Of course Bieber is in no way to blame for a photographer stepping out in traffic when he was warned against it specifically by police. I do want to know what happened to precede this chain of events, and how everything went down, but that in no way makes Bieber culpable for this guy’s death.

Bieber is shown on 12-10-12 and 12-12-12. Credit: FameFlynet

These photos are from 12-3-12

When I first read the headline for this story, a scenario formed in my head of a high speed car crash. We’ve seen video of Bieber bobbing dangerously in and out of traffic with the paparazzi in hot pursuit, and he’s been cited in the past for high speed chases involving the paparazzi. He got a ticket in July for going well over 100 on the freeway.

What allegedly happened in this case is just as sad, but not as damaging to Bieber’s reputation. (I’m sorry to put it that way, but my initial instinct was to blame the kid for speeding and not pulling over. It’s not like he would have been entirely to blame in that scenario either, but this is more cut and dried. That is, if it happened the way they’re claiming.) So cops had pulled Bieber’s car, a white Ferrari, over for a “routine” traffic stop, according to TMZ. Supposedly Bieber wasn’t driving or even in the car, which sounds suspicious to me. A photographer who was following the vehicle got out of his car to take photos of the incident and was supposedly warned by police to get back as it wasn’t safe. The photographer was then struck and killed by an oncoming car. TMZ reports this and notes in an update that Bieber wasn’t even there. More on that in a moment:

8:40PM PST: Justin Bieber was not in the Ferrari … sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ. We’re told one of Justin’s friends was driving and another friend was in the passenger seat.

A paparazzo attempting to shoot photos of Justin Bieber’s Ferrari was hit by another car and killed this evening — although Bieber was NOT behind the wheel of the Ferrari … TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Bieber’s white Ferrari was pulled over by California Highway Patrol for a routine traffic stop on Sepulveda Blvd. … near the Getty Center in LA.

According to our sources, Bieber was DEFINITELY not driving at the time. It’s unclear at this point who was driving, and if Justin was even in the car.

We’re told a paparazzo — who was following the Ferrari at the time of the pull over — attempted to snap pics while officers conducted the traffic stop … until CHP advised the photog to move back because the situation was unsafe.

At some point, we’re told the photog was struck by an oncoming vehicle and killed.

Our sources say drugs and alcohol were not a factor for the driver of the vehicle that hit the photog.

[From TMZ]

The pap did a dumb thing but he didn’t deserve to die for it. I’m confused by the detail that the guy put his life in danger to step out in traffic to photograph some of Bieber’s friends. The same paps follow Bieber, he seemed to know the guy he was berating in that video I mentioned and he told another paparazzo following him that he really liked him. So it’s not adding up to me that someone was so keen to get a photo of Bieber’s friends getting pulled over. The guy probably didn’t realize Bieber wasn’t in the car. It looks like the Ferrari has tinted windows. I feel like we’re not being told the full story here, but maybe that’s the nature of breaking news.

You know what makes me a little sick, though? Someone is going to want to buy those last photos taken before this guy got killed. At least the money will go to his family.

Photo credit: WENN.com