Music

Bieber quits meet-and-greets because fans' 'spiritual energy' bums him out

by Dan MacRae

Remember that horrible story from last month where a group of tourists passed around an endangered baby dolphin for selfies and pet it for so long that it died? Justin Bieber has found himself in the same position and has taken action before suffering the same fate.

The Biebs issued a decree on Instagram on March 22nd saying he’s putting an end to his high-priced meet-and-greets because “other people’s spiritual energy” at these encounters have left him “mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression.” The message is included in the caption of a pic featuring Bieber hugging a cute kid. Either that’s a “remember the good times” pic or a “LOOK AT THIS VAMPIRE STEALING MY ENERGY” bit of visual evidence. You make the call.

Love u guys. I’m going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy. Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression. The pressure of meeting people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised. Can’t tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn’t so hard on me. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I’m in to give you the best show you have ever seen 😉

The meet-and-greets are said to be priced at around $2,000 (U.S.) That’s a big chunk of change and will likely be a colossal bummer for whoever shelled out that kind of dough to get a picture with the “Sorry” tune vendor. Considering the freakout level he has to deal with on a steady basis, we could certainly understand wanting to decline doing extra meet-and-greet stuff, but it’s a bit of a dick move to essentially tell his Beliebers that they’re poisoning him with their ‘spiritual energy’ like his camp wasn’t charging people a goofy amount of money for the service.

This is like buying a luxury cake advertised by a bakery only to have the chef text you that he’s frustrated you ordered it because it’s a such an emotional ordeal to make. Just get it off your menu or come up with a fake reason while it’s a no-go. Or even just say, “I already deal with you butt bloats enough, thx!” It’s good to say no for your mental health, so why wrap it up in acting like he’s had this expensive add-on thrust upon him? You put it on the menu, dude.

Speaking of which, Bieber’s people say the “real” reason the meet-and-greets have been axed is because of a security concern and not for the reason their client laid out in a sprawling Instagram message. Refunds are being offered and there’s also the alternative where you can take pics and videos of the star, but not the traditional meet-and-greet.

Maybe Bieber and Avril Lavigne can compare meet-and-greet notes sometime this summer. Or better yet, we can phase out the weird money grab of meet-and-greets becoming a standard part of tour packages and see if we can survive that way.

[h/t Billboard]