On the eve of the Christmas Day release of the latest film chronicling the life of teenage pop star Justin Bieber, the Canadian singer took to Twitter on Tuesday night to send out a series of mixed messages, one of which said he was retiring, Reuters reported.
"My beloved beliebers I'm officially retiring" - was quickly followed by another message: "I'm never leaving you, being a belieber is a lifestyle," read the 19-year-old's tweet to nearly 48 million followers. "IM HERE FOREVER," he added.
Requests for clarification were not immediately responded to by his representatives.
A series of headline-grabbing incidents have followed Bieber for the past year, Reuters reported.
In March, the singer scuffled with a photographer outside a London hotel during a European tour. Later that month, police were called to his Los Angeles area home after a neighbor claimed he had been threatened and struck by Bieber.
Bieber struck a photographer with his Ferrari sports car in June while driving away from a comedy club in Los Angeles, though police said the accident was not considered a hit-and-run, according to Reuters.
The movie, "Justin Bieber's Believe," which takes the name of Bieber's third studio album, could help repair his image after the difficult year, Reuters reported.
"I think people forget that it's a 19-year-old kid, trying to figure it out," Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, told ABC News, adding the film shows Bieber as "a human."
In one instance of the film, director Jon Chu suggests Bieber's life could become a "train wreck."
On the night of Christmas Eve, the "retirement" tweet was followed by nearly a quarter million retweets and over 185,000 favorites by fans.
"A life without Justin Bieber. A life without my idol, hero, inspiration, my everything. Not the best thing to think about on Christmas Eve," tweeted @theycallmejerry.
On the other hand, Twitter user CozImAGuy said, "Justin Bieber retiring is the greatest Christmas gift EVER."
