Justin Bieber Issues Apology After Seemingly Racist Joke
Justin Bieber is apologizing after using a derogatory word in the form of a joke to describe black people.
Bieber, the 20-year-old Canadian singer, is known for having a plethora of friends from various ethnicities. However, after TMZ released an old video of the singer joking about black people while using the n-word, some questioned if he could be racist.
"Why are black people afraid of chainsaws," Bieber asks in the video, although an off camera male tells him not to finish the joke.
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However, Bieber did just that while laughing.
"Run, n-----, n-----, n-----, n-----," Bieber exclaims.
Now that the video has been released, the singer who has been mentored by the likes of popular singer Usher is apologizing. He insisted that the video was taken when he was younger, and did not understand the magnitude of such a joke.
"As a kid, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was ok to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance," Bieber wrote in a statement on Twitter. "Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologized for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the past have become public I need to apologize again to all those I have offended."
After insisting he is "very sorry," Bieber insisted that he is not making excuses for his jokes.
"I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again," Bieber's wrote. "Ignorance has no place in our society and I hope the sharing of my faults can prevent others from making the same mistake in the future. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say but telling the truth is always what's right."
He finished his statement by saying, "five years ago I made a reckless and immature mistake and i'm grateful to those close to me who helped me learn those lessons as a young man. Once again ... I'm sorry."
