TMZ has been running a series of videos and articles about Justin Bieber this week. As I said last month, all of the negative energy flowing in Bieber’s direction lately has turned me into a late-in-life Bieber Defender. In my opinion, there are a lot of music industry people who are mad that they’ve been cut out of Justin’s life and they’re pissed that they can’t exploit him any longer. So, TMZ has been running all of these weird “analysis” pieces about why Bieber sold his catalogue and how his ex-manager Scooter Braun is mad at him or whatever. Question the sourcing for the months of “Justin Bieber is fighting demons” stories, because I promise, all of those sources are guys mad that their gravy train stopped.

Then, last night, TMZ got another exclusive – a statement from Bieber’s rep, a statement about the ongoing Sean Combs trial. Bieber has said next to nothing as his former mentor has been exposed as a rapist and seriously depraved individual. Considering that “mentorship” came when Justin was just a little kid, it’s been deeply uncomfortable to watch as people gleefully tie Justin to Combs.

There has been a social media swirl over Justin Bieber’s relationship with Diddy when Justin was 15, but multiple sources in Justin’s life say nothing untoward happened between them. Our sources — some of whom were and some who are right at the center of Justin’s life — tell TMZ, Diddy never sexually or otherwise abused Bieber.

As you know, when Justin and Diddy both appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back in 2011, they stirred the pot when Diddy said Justin “knows better than to be talking about things that he does with Big Brother Puff on national television.”

Our sources say these public appearances were all “performative,” and that Justin never had a relationship with Diddy … rather, he was friends with Diddy’s sons, Quincy and Justin Combs.

Justin’s rep just gave us a statement … “Although Justin is not among Sean Combs’ victims, there are individuals who were genuinely harmed by him. Shifting focus away from this reality detracts from the justice these victims rightfully deserve.”

[From TMZ]

It’s very likely that Justin saw a lot of things that he wasn’t prepared to see, but if we’re supposed to believe victims, we should also believe people when they say that they’re not victims too. I also appreciate that Justin’s silence on Combs was twofold – he wasn’t defending Combs, nor was he trying to distract from the victims’ stories and the pursuit of justice.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.