14 DAY TRIAL // Justin Bieber found himself in hot water again this week over something outrageous yet again. The only difference is that this time it was for something he did when he was 15 years old, so it seems the singer had a very controversial nature from early on.
TMZ points out that the racist video, which was leaked in the press and has done considerable damage to Justin's reputation although he did issue an official apology, was actually part of a blackmail scam that involved a lot of lawyers.
As the news outlet reports, Justin Bieber's attorneys were contacted some time ago by another member of their trade, who claimed was representing a guy who used to work on Justin's video projects. That guy somehow ended up in possession of the video question and his lawyer demanded that the lump sum of $1 million (€734,560) be transferred to him or the video would be leaked to the press.
As it turns out, the guy who demanded the money got into Bieber's personal hard drive and when he saw the video, decided to steal it. Now, the man was looking to cash in on his ill-gotten goods and made it all official by hiring a lawyer to represent him.
Understandably, Justin's legal camp had no intention in paying an entire million dollars to a man simply because he claimed he had a video. Once proof was given that the man did indeed have the clip in his possession, the lawyers promptly shot down his offer.
Seeing the rejection, the blackmailer's attorney dropped the price immediately to $800,000 (€587,648) which would ensure that his client would keep the tape a secret. Once again, Justin's legal camp scoffed at the ridiculous sum and reportedly told him he “wasn't even in the ballpark.”
That was their final interaction with the presumed video thief, who, by all accounts, has held true to his promise and leaked the video that made its way in the news this week. Unfortunately for him, the recording didn't have that big of an impact.
Bieber's camp knew that this was going to happen and decided to take a shot. In their mind, the public would be willing to overlook Justin's racial jibe due to his young age. Let's face it, as much as you despise the Canadian singer, you can't really fault him for something he said or did 5 years ago. God knows, we all do and say idiotic stuff at that age, it's like a rite of passage.
Trouble is that a second video emerged online today, claiming to tie Justin to the KKK. It seems this second video too was shot when Justin was much younger. The issue is still one that won't be raising any eyebrows because let's face it, Justin may be a lot of things, but a racist he is not.
In his case, the “I have a lot of black friends” argument is really true, since the singer has surrounded himself with a lot of noteworthy members of the African-American community, most of whom have listed under occupation the word “rapper.”