Today marks the two year anniversary of the creation of this thread and the start of what would develop into BNN! I can hardly believe it. I had no idea back then what I was beginning.
I can still remember that day. I went online to look some things up, and Justin’s haircut was absolutely
everywhere. Even the news sites were going nuts over it! Clearly it was the biggest most important thing to ever happen in the history of ever. It was on every website in existence, expect this one. So I made this thread. It was originally a retaliation against the unsolicited imposition of Bieber into my life, and developed into something that necessitated constant Bieber in my life. Go figure.
To celebrate this milestone I’ve put together a list of what I consider the most memorable stories this thread has covered in the past year. From the funny to the serious to the bizarre, let’s revisit these Bieber moments together.
This is the Bieber News Network Year In Review:
March 1st, Justin celebrates his 18th birthday. Beliebers attempt to break the record for ‘most widespread social networking message within 24 hours’ by sending him
birthday greetings on Facebook. After
the stats were tallied they had
succeeded by 112,453. Justin celebrated his birthday by
going on Ellen and was
given a new car and also
a fan in a box.
Early March, an astronomer announced his desire to
shoot Justin into space. Not to get rid of him though, just to boost interest
in private space flight.
Mid March, a high school student
invited Justin to his prom. Not as his date, just as a guest because he thought it was important that Justin experience being a normal teenager. Justin didn’t accept the invitation, but the kid brought him anyway.
A cutout of him that is.
Mid March, an internet hoax
reported Justin was dead.
Mid March, Justin
signed Carly Rae Jepsen to his
new record label.
Late March,
Justin got slimed after winning
Favorite Male Singer at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
Here’s the video!
Late March, in a Twitter joke gone wrong, Justin posted the message “Call me right now” with a phone number that was missing the last digit. This of course caused his followers to
dial every possible combination. They never reached Justin, but the owners of two of the numbers reported receiving
up to a thousand calls a day. They
requested compensation from Justin for the prank, one in the form of concert tickets and the other by a product endorsement. There was never word on whether Justin did give them anything.
Late March, Justin went house hunting. After
considering a mortgage and
negotiating the price he
finalized the purchase. The property is
a gated community for 21 or older so he hasn’t moved in yet.
See pictures here.
Mid April, Justin’s appearance on The Voice
caused a ratings war with Selena’s appearance on DWTS. Justin
ended up winning. While on the show Justin made
a mysterious remark that was apparently about
a possible collaboration, released
a new Boyfriend preview and was
compared to Elvis. But the big story that came out of it was his apparent tension with Christina Aguilera. During the broadcast she seemed to
give him a dirty look but claimed
it wasn’t a big deal after receiving a lot of hype. People continued to make a stir about it though, so she had to
deny it some more and then
say nice things about him and even have
some friends support her. When he
returned to The Voice in May there were no problems.
Mid April, Justin randomly brought the Yeater baby scandal back into the public’s attention
by tweeting about it.
Late April, a report out of Indonesia said Justin
threw a “hissy fit” at a press event and complained about being in “some random country” where “they didn't know what they were doing.” They took offense at his “very condescending” tone and until he apologized “in a sweet manner” a radio station
banned his music. Justin tweeted about the incident, but didn’t apologize he
just thanked his fans and said it was just “lies and rumors” that he was offensive.
Early May, Justin
graduated from high school but said he preferred the “school of life” and just did it because his mom wanted him to. He had
a ceremony on Ellen.
Early May, Justin’s Boyfriend music video
broke a record by getting 8 million views in the first 24 hours.
Early May, after a high school girl received no response to a letter she sent to Justin and then a fax she sent to his label asking him to be her prom date, she
took a Justin cutout.
Late May, a photographer tried to get some shots of Justin and Selena and Justin reportedly
roughed him up causing the man to
call 911 for chest pain. After being released from the hospital
he filed a complaint for Justin to be charged
with misdemeanor battery. Justin
was not questioned immediately because
he went overseas but as police
looked for witnesses some of the details came together. It seemed the photographer was likely at fault for the incident
by blocking Justin’s car. Fans
supported Justin saying he wouldn’t do such a thing unprovoked. Interestingly, just a few days before the incident Justin had
taken boxing lessons from Mike Tyson. When the sheriff’s office completed their report they sent it
to the district attorney to see if Justin would face charges. After Justin was
finally reached it was ultimately decided that we wouldn’t be charged due to
lack of evidence.
Late May, NBC announced they would air Justin’s
first network special which would be “an all-access pass to his life over a 12-day period” as he promoted Believe. The special was later
extended to two nights because NBC said “The worldwide hysteria surrounding Justin's album launch is unlike anything we've seen” and they wanted to
make sure others saw it. When it finally aired, it was
a shocking failure in the ratings, failing to draw even one full percent of its intended audience. The only program it came in ahead of was a rerun. NBC denied it was a bust though, claiming that because most of Justin’s fans are young they probably watched “a lot of different ways” that didn’t show up in the ratings. You can watch the two part special
here.
Late May, Justin
ran into a glass wall after a concert in Paris and passed out
going down some stairs. He had a concussion and said he
couldn’t move his eyebrow, though that part may have been a joke. You can see the video
here.
May 30th, Oslo Norway was hit by a massive Belieber invasion. After seeing the frenzy caused when fans
besieged his hotel and then
mobbed his vehicle, Justin thought it would be a good idea to give a free concert. Of course that caused even more chaos. The city was completely overrun both by land
and by sea. With the police vastly outnumbered and with no control they threatened to declare
a state of emergency and cancel the performance. Justin turned to Twitter
urging the fans to calm down and they did. The concert went on as scheduled. As details
of the aftermath emerged it was reported over a dozen girls passed out and possibly up to 50 went to hospitals. There was also so much cell phone activity that it overloaded and slowed mobile service.
June 4th, Justin’s entire North American tour sold out
in less than an hour. His two shows at Madison Square Garden sold out in only 30 seconds.
Early June, after seeing the chaos in Norway, Mexico officials were ready when Justin came there. He tweeted
it would be crazy and they agreed, arranging
for heightened security. 6,000 police officers, two helicopters, 500 portable toilets and four rings of barriers. The performance went without incident.
Early June, Justin announced the launch
of a new perfume called Girlfriend. Justin gave a secret concert for
the first 500 people that bought it, and during the show he
blew the power out.
June 19th, Justin’s Believe album is released. He once again brings up the Yeater baby scandal by saying
one of the songs is about it.
Mid June, Justin
won UR Fave Artist at the Toronto MuchMusic Awards. After the ceremony one of the many girls that swarmed him grabbed the award. Thinking she was with the event and taking it away to keep it safe, he let her go. Someone who really was with the event saw her later and got it back. Justin felt bad and wanted to locate her so he could
give her a replica of the award, but there was never word on if he was able to find her.
Mid June, Justin was given a hard time by David Letterman
over his many tattoos. Dave tried to get him to promise not to get any more because he was starting to look like a mural
in the Sistine Chapel. Justin replied that he wasn’t going for the “the Sixteenth Chapel look.” He may have just misspoke, but his apparent confusion about why the audience laughed suggests that he may really not have known what Dave was talking about.
Early July, Justin was
cited for speeding after reportedly
going over 100mph and weaving in and out of traffic. Before being pulled over Justin had
called the police to report that paparazzi was chasing him, but he
used a fake name. Justin filed a harassment claim
against his pursuer who then claimed the law being used against him
was unconstitutional. The judge in the case
agreed with him saying it
suppressed the media.
Mid July, a mom that
took her daughter to one of Justin’s concerts in 2010 allegedly
suffered hearing loss from the screaming girls
and filed a suit against Justin, his label, and the promoter on
grounds of negligence for failing to “maintain safe decibels at all times during their events.” The suit
was for $9.2 million saying Justin “enticed the crowd” to be loud and the gondola he was suspended in “acted as a sound conductor, creating a sound blast that permanently damaged both of my ears.” Justin’s legal team urged the judge to throw the suit out saying he isn’t
responsible for his fans. The mom eventually
dropped the suit due to lack of a lawyer.
Mid July, only
350 of 30,000 people got tickets to a secret show Justin put on.
Late July, Justin heard Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin was a fan of his so he
tweeted her congratulations on her medal and sent her
a personal video. He also sent her
a gift package full of
all kinds of stuff, but she
had to send it back because it apparently jeopardized her amateur status. She
made up for it though by
meeting him at a concert.
Early August, Justin gave two interviews with two magazines that offended two nationalities. He said Prince William
should fix his bald spot which the British
found rather rude, and he made a remark about Inuits getting
free gas in Canada.
August 31st, Justin
was pulled over, causing two paparazzi vehicles to
crash into each other.
Early September, Justin got a crown
tattooed on his chest.
Mid September, Justin was
offered a contract with the Bakersfield Condors hockey team. The coach said he was
impressed with Justin’s speed.
Mid September, Justin
tweeted about being sick so Beliebers put
get well notes on his vehicle.
Late September, One Direction broke the record Justin set in May for
most views in 24 hours. In less than a month Justin would
reclaim the record with
his new video.
Late September, Justin tried to go vegan but
it made him a brat.
Early October, Justin
threw up onstage. Amazingly, if you watch the video
here or
here, it didn’t interrupt his singing.
October 9th, after a performance in Washington Justin tweeted that
his laptop and camera were stolen. The thief created Twitter and YouTube accounts
to leak the footage. After releasing a couple innocent videos they threatened to post something more shocking at noon on the 12th. An
alleged nude photo was released, but Justin denied it was him and it was later proven to be a fake. On the 12th Justin admitted the whole thing was
just a publicity stunt for the release of what actually ended up being posted: his new music video. The alleged photo had just been someone capitalizing on his hoax. The story was then changed though to claim that not everything was a hoax,
the theft was real. Justin was the one leaking the videos though, so that caused confusion about how that could be planned without knowing the theft would occur. The authorities said there probably wouldn’t be
much of an investigation, summing up how most people felt about the hoax: “A lot of people got played.”
Early October, a SWAT team was
called to Justin’s house as a prank. Two months later the
culprit was caught and turned out to be
a 12 year old boy.
Mid October, Justin almost
fell down some stairs during a performance with Carly Rae Jepsen.
Late October, Justin got a tour hamster named PAC for
fan meet and greets. In December he
gave PAC away to a fan
after a show. This upset the California Hamster Association which
accused him of animal cruelty because a change in environment can shock the fragile creatures.
Late October, reports that
Justin had cancer hit the internet, along with a campaign for Beliebers to shave their heads in support. The report and movement were both found to be fake.
Late October, Justin got an owl
tattooed on his arm.
Mid November, news breaks that Justin and Selena have broken up. Even though a poll in April had found 75% of voters thought they would
be together forever and producer Timbaland said in July
they would get married, it seemed the
8th most powerful couple was done.
The initial story was that
they broke up because of “crazy schedules” and “trust issues” and that it had been expected
for a while. Then rumors emerged that Justin may have gone on a date
with someone else and that caused the split. Justin didn’t
confirm or deny it, saying he
didn’t know what was going on, but then sang
Cry Me a River which some took as proof. Reports then came that Justin thought he could
get Selena back and they
met in New York to discuss things and he reportedly begged
for a second chance. Selena also neither confirmed nor denied the breakup when
asked about it, just saying she was taking things “day by day.” Sources then claimed that Selena was
ignoring Justin’s texts and blocking
all contact from him. News then came that Justin
had proposed before the breakup, but that story
was disputed.
Justin then spent the night at Selena’s house and they
spent the next day together. In the evening they
went out to dinner but reportedly
had a huge fight and Selena stormed out and drove home. Justin followed her but was
locked out at the gate. A later report claimed that
there was no fight and Justin was not locked out he was just delayed by a malfunction. Either way, Justin eventually got through the gate and apparently
spent the night again. Justin then
took his mom as his date to the AMAs, but
met Selena afterwards and the two were seen acting friendly
at the after party. When Selena went to the hospital to check her throat
Justin was with her. Then reports came that said Selena was the one that
wanted back together but Justin was hesitant.
Sources then claimed that Justin and Selena were
back together again thanks to advice from Taylor Swift. They
went to dinner again, and another source said the media had
been exaggerating things. A source then claimed that Taylor Swift actually encouraged Selena
to dump Justin, contradicting the previous one. Justin and Selena were seen
out and about and looking like a couple.
Justin then
played ping pong with Nick Jonas which reportedly upset Selena and reports claimed the two were broken up again after having
another big fight. A source claimed Selena said it was
really over this time, and she was never going to his concerts again. But then they went
on a double date with Taylor Swift and were said
to be together again. A source said they were going
to couples counseling but that was disputed.
They went to Mexico together
for New Year’s Eve. While there they reportedly had
another major fight and broke up again, this time really for real. Selena made a tweet
about new beginnings and then
a humorous one about having someone to listen, seeming to indicate that she was just as worn down by all the rumors and back and forth as the people trying to follow it. Justin
retweeted a fan who mentioned the breakup and some people took that as his way of confirming the news, since he and Selena still had not made any official statements. A source claimed Justin was taking the breakup hard and calling Selena
a hundred times a day. Another source said the breakup was caused by Justin
being too needy.
Justin finally made the first official
address of the situation by tweeting that his upcoming song would “let U know how I feel about what is going on in my life instead of rumors guessing” which was an allusion to the song
Nothing Like Us which is about a breakup. Justin’s mom expressed
fondness for Selena in an interview and seemed to hope
they got back together, but didn’t actually say they were apart being just as ambiguous as Justin and Selena. Justin finally gave the straightest answer yet by saying the rumors he was chasing Selena down were
“all fake stories” but that still didn’t confirm whether any of the breakups or reunions had actually occurred or not because he didn’t explain why they were fake. They could be fake because they’re false, or fake because they’re incorrect. Reports then came that Justin and Selena were
back together yet again after Selena
spent the night at Justin’s.
And that’s where we are now. If all these events are true, that’s a cycle of three breakups and reunions, with Jelena currently together again. But with still no clear official word from either side on what has or hasn’t happened, it’s possible that one or more of these reunions weren’t as full as reported and they are still separated, but maybe still friends; and it’s also possible that none of this happened at all and was just reporters and alleged sources going overboard over mundane arguments that any couple has. It’s been one of the longest and most confusing stories covered here, and it’s probably not over yet.
Late November, Justin was awarded the Diamond Jubilee Medal which commemorates the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and recognizes “significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.” He received the award from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wearing
overalls and a baseball cap which caused immediate outrage. Justin
tweeted about it jokingly, attempting to play down the claims he was disrespectful. Harper also tried to
alleviate the situation. When the
criticism continued Justin attempted to
explain his clothes by saying he didn’t have time to change. In what appeared to be a response to this incident, Justin was
booed at his performance at Canada’s
Grey Cup.
Late November, the Yeater baby scandal came back in the news once again. Justin
gave more details about it in an interview with Oprah, and Yeater’s lawyer came back in public to say the case isn’t as closed as people thought it was, even though the suit is still dropped, because he reportedly never got the results of the DNA test Justin took.
Late November, although Justin was the most searched person on Bing last year, for 2012 he
fell to number two.
Early December, Justin’s manager
ranted on Twitter about Justin not getting
any Grammy nominations. Both he
and Justin’s fans slammed the board for snubbing him. Simon Cowell agreed that
it was outrageous. Justin himself didn’t seem too upset about it though. Even though in September he had revealed that one of his big dreams is
to win a Grammy, after being left out he said he just
wants his fans’ love. He later announced he would be holding a live stream during the Grammy broadcast, some thought as an attempt to get revenge by stealing their ratings. It was a disaster though.
So many people connected it crashed the site and wouldn’t let Justin in. He finally gave up and
posted an apology video and a new song. After the Grammys Patrick Carney of the Black Keys was asked if he thought Justin had been snubbed. He responded “Grammys are for music, not for money.” which sparked a Twitter war with Justin saying he
“should be slapped around” and then Carney
changing his profile.
Early December, the biggest Bieber story possibly ever broke. Justin was one of the targets of a bizarre murder plot. A man serving a 978 year prison sentence for rape and murder, who happens to have a tattoo of Justin on his leg, conspired with another inmate who when released then also recruited a relative to kill Justin, his bodyguard, and two other people. It was planned to take place after a performance at Madison Square Garden, but was thwarted when the original plotter
decided to confess to police. The motivation for the plot is unclear. One story is that it was revenge for Justin not returning the man’s attempts to contact him, and the other is that the men just wanted attention and chose Justin because of the media coverage it would bring.
Early December, as Twitter statistics for the year rolled out, Justin was the
most retweeted celebrity of 2012 and made the
second most popular tweet of 2012.
Late December, Justin got praying hands
tattooed on his leg.
January 1st, Justin let rapper Lil Twist borrow his car, and it was pulled over. A photographer thought it was Justin and tried to get some pictures. He ignored orders from the police to leave and
was hit by a car and died. Even thought Justin was not involved some people blamed him, causing Miley Cyrus to
tweet in his defense. Justin made a statement expressing sadness over the incident and Charlie Sheen
helped pay for the funeral.
Early January, a number of stories emerge reporting that Justin is smoking marijuana. It started with
a leaked photograph that appeared to show Justin smoking pot with rapper Lil Twist. Justin
tweeted an apology but didn’t actually admit that’s what it was. Justin’s team was angry about the leak, claming that any photos taken of Justin at parties
belong to Justin. An unconfirmed report claimed that this was not an isolated incident, but Justin
smokes pot every day. In response to this a fake internet campaign began circulating encouraging Beliebers
to start cutting themselves to make Justin stop. Fortunately it doesn’t appear anyone took it seriously. Then came photos that seemed to show
more pot smoking, this time with rapper Lil Za. There were also suspicions that Justin may have
drank some ‘sizzurp’ as well. All this culminated with another sex scandal, which alleged that after a night of partying where Justin smoked pot and drank ‘sizzurp’ he became intimate with a young woman. Justin’s team has yet to respond to the claims.
Early January, a third internet campaign began circulating, this time a real one. It asked people to
Go Vegan for Bieber.
Early January, Justin got a hockey team’s logo
tattooed on his shoulder.
Early January, Justin’s former bodyguard accused him of
beating him up. He sued for damages for assault
and back wages.
January 21st, Justin finally passed Lady Gaga to become the
most followed person on Twitter.
Late January, Justin was
charged with assault by a woman he apparently shot with a nerf gun while playing with his siblings.
Early February, Justin’s bodyguard reportedly
threatened to harm a man who took a photo of Justin while he was out shopping if he didn’t delete the picture.
And there it is, another year’s worth of Bieber! Wow. It’s been a crazy journey through
the first year and now the second one. We’ve seen Justin continue to grow and change, and not always in a positive way. I would say he’s still not a lost cause, but he’s definitely been heading in the wrong direction.
I said after last year’s review that we would watch as his character and relationship both developed, and we certainly have. We’ve seen him display progressively edgier behavior, making it appear that if things don’t change he’ll likely become yet another young star that goes off the deep end. And as for his relationship, that was one of the biggest stories of the year. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that he and Selena split, but it will be interesting to see what happens from here. If they did indeed split, as it’s still not completely clear.
Going into this third year of news I’m almost afraid to journey forward. I really don’t want to follow the decline of Justin’s character into a train wreck, if that’s where he’s heading. But I still hold out hope that he can come through and be a decent person, he just has to think about things and not let his life get crazy. In the coming news I would like to see stories about him getting back on the right track and returning to that wholesome image he once had. Whether that will be the case, only time will tell.
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Previous Review:
2012
Because even if people do say something, oftentimes you just post the next news article 