Justin Bieber spoke candidly about his relationship with his parents in his new cover story for Billboard. The 21-year-old pop star opened up about his estranged mother Pattie Mallette and defended the joke his father Jeremy Bieber made last month after nude photos of his son were leaked online.
Bieber credited Mallette with introducing him to music and religion at a young age, and signing him up for talent contests. She was the one who uploaded a video of a then 12-year-old Bieber singing along to "So Sick" by Ne-Yo, which caught the attention of talent manager Scooter Braun. Braun showed the clip to R&B singer Usher. Usher then presented it to Antonio "L.A." Reid, who was the CEO of Island Def Jam at the time. The rest is history.
However, Bieber hasn't had much contact with his mother in the past two years and their relationship is "pretty nonexisting," he told Billboard. "I was distant because I was ashamed. I never wanted my mom to be disappointed in me and I knew she was. We spent some time not talking, so it takes time to rebuild that trust. She's living in Hawaii now, so it's hard, but getting better. She's an amazing woman and I love her."
He has a closer relationship with father Jeremy who, much like his son, earned himself a bad reputation in the media, as previously reported by HNGN. Jeremy recently stirred up controversy after sending a public tweet of approval after nude photos of his son leaked online.
"@justinbieber what do you feed that thing. #proud daddy," said Jeremy last month via Twitter. The Internet reacted in collective disgust and the tweet has since been deleted.
"My dad made light of it, but I don't think that's sick and twisted," Bieber told Billboard. "It was funny. Dads are going to be dads."
