Justin Bieber shared a heartfelt message with fans Monday night detailing his struggles with growing up in the spotlight, including being “resentful” and using “heavy drugs.”
The chart-topping performer, who became an international superstar as a teenager, said in a lengthy Instagram post that early fame led him to make “every bad decision.”
He began by saying he understands what it feels like to be overwhelmed by life, job responsibilities, family and relationships; and warned of the pitfalls of childhood stardom.
“Have you noticed the statistics of child stars and the outcome of their life? There is an insane pressure and responsibility put on a child whose brain, emotions, frontal lobes (decision making) aren’t developed yet,” he writes. “No rationality, defiant, rebellious, things all of us have to go through. But when you add the pressure of stardom, it does something to you that is quite unexplainable.”
“You see, I didn’t grow up in a stable home, my parents were 18 [and] separated with no money, still young and rebellious, as well,” he explains. “As my talent progressed and I became ultra-successful, it happened within a strand of two years. My whole world was flipped on its head.”
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The singer-songwriter, now 25, added that being constantly told how great he was as a teen sensation only made things worse.
“I went from a 13-year-old boy from a small town to being praised left and right by the world, with millions saying how much they loved me and how great I was,” he shars. “You hear these things enough as a young boy and you actually start believing it. Rationality comes with age.”
By the time he reached age 18, Bieber said he hadn’t developed any life skills beyond music and performing.
“Everyone did everything for me, so I never even learned the fundamentals of responsibility,” he writes. “By this point, I was 18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted.”
The Sorry singer said he turned to drugs and was abusive in his relationships.
“I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships. I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry,” he explains. “I became distant to everyone who loved me, and I was hiding behind a shell of a person that I had become. I felt like I could never turn it around. It’s taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits.”
He concluded by crediting his marriage to Hailey Baldwin with helping him learn “patience, trust, commitment, kindness, humility and all of the things it looks like to be a good man.”
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