Justin Bieber has been stirring up serious controversy in the media spotlight by faking pregnancy announcements and yelling at fans about a plethora of topics. It seems as though wherever Bieber goes, the drama will usually follow.
Recently, Bieber announced his new clothing line, “Drew.”
The clothing line is a bunch of beige, yellow, and other neutral-ish colors of comfortable, yet “stylish” clothing. Bieber has been marketing it across social media since January.
The company/clothing gained enough popularity that the majority of the items happen to be sold out on the company’s website. However, recently, Bieber got called out online for using another celebrity to exploit his clothing line and market the brand.
Bieber decided to use a recent photo rapper Diddy posted of his late girlfriend, Kim, on Instagram. Bieber saw a slight resemblance in the attire Diddy was sporting in his photo and posted the same photo on his own Instagram account—captioning it: “#Diddyfordrewhouse.” Bieber later updated the caption to send his own, personal, tribute to Kim—only after fans online said it was foul to use this kind of image for publicity.
The original photo was posted on Diddy’s Instagram account with the caption:
I remember Kim flying to see me on the set of can’t nobody hold me down. She took like a 12 hour flight to LA and 3 hour ride to the desert. With no complaints. Was always ride or die. From day 1! I called her BONNIE AND I WAS CLYDE! This picture will go down in history as the first time I said she was MINE!!!! AND THE FIRST TIME I TOLD HER I LOVE HER, little did I know I was hers. Miss you BONNIE and will forever. Maaaaan life is beautiful to have had these experiences. Love you baby.
Therefore, many online saw this as heartless and rude.
After receiving some scrutiny and hate on the post, Bieber responded to one commenter saying that Diddy is a dear friend and there was no harm done in the post itself and he did not mean to exploit anyone during any hard times. He claims he “didn’t realize” the photo was a “mourning” post from Diddy and claims he was “just appreciating art.”
Regardless—it is heartless for Bieber to exploit someone’s feelings and emotional struggle for a profit, even if Diddy is a good family friend. Clearly, Bieber didn’t think of how this would land with people—and obviously felt bad if he thought to go back and change the caption. Additionally, he’s kept the photo up on his Instagram account.
h/t: BuzzFeed.