From teen idol to lost soul: The dark descent of Justin Bieber

For a time it seemed that Justin Bieber had managed to put his demons behind him and was enjoying a more stable phase of his life. The former teen idol, now 30, became a father for the first time in August and has been married to Hailey Bieber for seven years. There was even talk of him releasing new music in 2025.

But with the shocking pictures of him looking gaunt and haggard this week, along with cryptic Instagram messages and a recent altercation with a paparazzi, it feels as if someone has turned the clock back to a decade ago. Back to a time when the then 20-year-old pop star was acting increasingly erratically, was arrested for driving under the influence and spent a night in jail.

According to sources close to the couple, Bieber’s wife Hailey, 28 (who is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin) is “deeply concerned” about him.

The singer’s long-time battle with anxiety, depression and addiction is certainly no secret. In his 2020 documentary, Justin Bieber: Seasons he said: “There was a time where I was sipping Lean [codeine cough syrup and soda], I was popping pills, I was doing Molly [MDMA], you know, ’shrooms, everything. It was just an escape for me.

“My security and stuff would come into my room at night to check my pulse. People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary,” he recalled. “I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary. I basically said to myself, I’m like, ‘God, if you’re real, you get me through this season of stopping these pills and stuff, and if you do, I’ll do the rest of the work.’”

But there are fears that Bieber’s issues from the past may have resurfaced, possibly triggered by being drawn into the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs. The hip-hop mogul, who was once a close friend and mentor of Bieber’s, is currently in jail awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking, abuse and racketeering. Combs denies all charges.

A video from 2009 recently surfaced online, showing a 15-year-old Bieber spending 24 hours with Combs. In one clip, Combs, standing alongside 15-year-old Bieber, says to the camera: “He’s having 48 hours with Diddy, where we’re hanging out and what we’re doing we can’t really disclose. But it’s definitely a 15-year-old’s dream … for the next 48 hours he’s with me and we’re gonna go full crazy.”

When the two appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2016, Combs boasted of 16-year-old Bieber: “He knows better than to be talking about the things that he does with big brother Puff on national television” before adding, “Everything ain’t for everybody.”

“Do I believe he was involved in some stupid s–t? Yeah,” one industry insider, who worked with Bieber’s team for years, says. “He was a teenager. He was the biggest pop star in the world. Everyone was worried about him, and we didn’t know if he would survive it. People took advantage of everything he did.”

It’s certainly been hard for Bieber to escape the curse of the child star, after skyrocketing to fame aged just 13. He grew up in Ontario, Canada and was raised by his single mum, Pattie. “I remember being poor and being teased by other kids,” he has said of his humble upbringing.

In the early 2000s he was discovered on YouTube, and was signed by the record producer Scooter Braun. The release of his song Baby in 2010 made him an international superstar at just 14. It was number one around the world, went 12-times platinum, and the music video – viewed more than 3.3 billion times – is one of the most watched YouTube videos ever.

I interviewed Bieber in 2010 on his first trip to the UK. He was surly and rude, arriving late and refusing to wear the trainers our stylist had picked out for his photoshoot. He was remarkably tiny and baby-faced, seeming younger even than his 14 years, and acted a bit lost and lonely, despite a massive entourage of around 30 people who were all “yes men”, bowing down to his every demand.

A few months later, Bieber became a pop phenomenon and gained an army of passionate teenage fans who called themselves “Beliebers”. But as his career gained momentum, it was never without controversy.

In 2013, there was a backlash after he visited the Anne Frank House and wrote in the guestbook: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.” In 2014, he had to apologise after videos surfaced of him using racist slurs.

By the time his second album Believe came out, the wheels were coming off his squeaky-clean teen-pop-star image.

At age 19, his tour bus was raided by Swedish authorities who found unspecified illegal drugs and a stun gun. Months later, Bieber was spotted by paparazzi allegedly sneaking out of a Rio de Janeiro brothel after spending three hours inside.

In January 2014, when he was 20, police raided Bieber’s mansion after he was accused of throwing eggs at his neighbour’s house. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanour vandalism and was ordered to pay $80,000 (£63,000) for the damages he caused.

Later that month he was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, drag racing, driving without a valid licence and resisting arrest after police pulled him over on a residential street in Miami. Tests later showed Xanax and marijuana in his system. A video of the pop star taken at the police station showed him taking a sobriety test and doing push-ups. In his now infamous mug shot, he appeared in an orange jumpsuit, grinning from ear to ear.

“Not proud of where I was at in my life,” he later wrote on Instagram. “I was hurting, unhappy, confused, angry, mislead [sic], misunderstood and angry at god.”

By 2015, he made a remarkable comeback. His album Purpose pivoted from pop to dance music, won four Grammys and garnered critical and commercial acclaim. Yet in 2017, he was banned from touring China for “bad behaviour”. That same year, his concert tour was cut short when the singer experienced burnout.

His on-off relationship with fellow teen star Selena Gomez ended around 2018, and he proposed to model Hailey Baldwin a few months later. They had been friends since 2015 and developed a relationship after both attending Hillsong Church, a high-profile but controversial “mega-church”. At one point, Bieber became very close to the pastor at Hillchurch, Carl Lentz, who was later fired for “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures” including affairs, abuse allegations, and an Adderall addiction.

Bieber still remains a churchgoer and was spotted attending a Churchome service in Beverly Hills days after Hailey gave birth to their son, Jack Blues, last August.

In October, the Biebers celebrated their wedding anniversary at Baltaire Restaurant in Los Angeles, where Justin was already looking remarkably thin in sunglasses and a trucker hat. There were break-up rumours in January, after Bieber seemed to unfollow his wife on Instagram, but went on to claim he’d been hacked.

This week the Biebers were pictured shopping in Paris and attending the LA launch of a pop-up for Hailey’s beauty brand Rhode, although a video of Justin looking uncomfortable and grinning uncontrollably at the event went viral online. He was also captured on video arguing with a paparazzi who took pictures of the couple in Beverly Hills.

Bieber has also been beset with health problems in recent years. In 2020, he revealed he had Lyme disease. “While a lot of people kept saying Justin Bieber looks like s–t, on meth etc. they failed to realise I’ve been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease, not only that but had a serious case of chronic mono which affected my skin, brain function, energy, and overall health,” he wrote on Instagram.

In 2022, he cancelled his tour dates because he was diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome. “It is from this virus that attacks the nerve in my ear and my facial nerves and has caused my face to have paralysis,” Justin said in an Instagram video (below). “As you can see this eye is not blinking. I can’t smile on this side of my face. This nostril will not move. I’m just physically not capable of doing [the concert dates]. This is pretty serious as you can see. I wish this wasn’t the case. But obviously, my body is telling me I need to slow down.”

In 2023, Bieber sold the publishing rights and artist royalties from his song catalogue to music investment company Hipgnosis, in a deal valued at just over $200 million (£160 million). ​​“Most superstars sell their entire catalogue when they’re about 60 or 70, so it begs the question why Justin chose to do this now. I was told he was going through his money like water,” a music industry source says.

The singer’s fortune is currently estimated to be around $300 million (£237 million), mainly boosted by that publishing deal. But the immense wealth, fame and success has clearly come at a huge personal cost.

“Justin Bieber went from a kid singing on YouTube to a global superstar almost overnight and at a very young age, in the process skipping the usual developmental milestones and interactions that most young people experience,” says Natalie Trice, a celebrity PR. “While he has successfully reinvented himself over the years, the psychological impact of fame doesn’t simply fade away and without the right support around him, things could continue to unravel.

“The constant spotlight, media speculation, and public expectations can take a toll and as concerns about his wellbeing grow, it highlights the darker side of childhood fame, and the ongoing personal and professional balancing act required to maintain both success and mental health,” Trice continues. “We can only hope that he and his wife are able to get plans in place for him to take the time out that is needed to deal with the issues at hand, and maybe keep out of the public eye until he has more stability.”

Poignantly, Bieber wept in 2020 on the Apple Music podcast, when he spoke about wanting to protect the young singer Billie Eilish.

“It was hard for me being that young and being in the industry and not knowing where to turn, and everyone telling me they loved me, and turn their back on you in a second,” he said. “I just want to protect her. I don’t want her to go through anything I went through. I don’t wish that upon anybody.”

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