Justin Bieber Booed in Argentina
Justin Bieber fans in Buenos Aires booed the singer Sunday night when he ended his performance after being onstage for less than an hour, according to The Associated Press. He blamed food poisoning for having to leave early; it’s the second time he’s done so on his South American trek, following an early departure in Brazil when someone threw a plastic bottle at him.
“I’m not feeling too good,” he told his Argentinian concertgoers, some of whom reportedly paid up to $320 for tickets. “I think I’m out of energy.”
The Evolution of Justin Bieber
Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, released a statement to AP Monday that said the singer’s food poisoning was so bad that he spent eight hours on an IV drip prior to the show. Doctors reportedly suggested Bieber cancel the gig. Instead, he waited to go onstage until 10 p.m., an hour and a half later than planned.
Earlier in the day, the singer had Instagrammed himself receiving intravenous fluids with the caption “food poisoning is #allbad” – the hashtag referenced his new single, “All Bad,” which he released on the heels of his win for Best Male Artist at the MTV European Music Awards on Sunday. He also tweeted that although he’d had a rough day, “the show must go on,” and that he was “actually pretty sick.” Moreover, Bieber’s stage manager tweeted, “I don’t know how he made it as far as he did.” Braun, meanwhile, praised Bieber by tweeting that the 19-year-old “handled [the Buenos Aires show] like a man who cares and put his beliebers before himself.”
This incident follows a series of questionable events that have followed the singer throughout the tour. While in Brazil, the country’s police charged him with spray-painting graffiti on a wall—a crime that, if convicted, could land him a year in prison. And finally, while still in Brazil, a woman allegedly videotaped him sleeping in a hotel room.
Since arriving in Argentina, he had been reportedly hitting the club circuit on early Saturday morning in Buenos Aires. Paparazzi video captured the singer’s bodyguards rushing someone whose head was covered with a black sheet into a van filmed with what AP described as “young girls.”
Bieber’s bodyguards also allegedly assaulted the club’s house photographer, who then hired a lawyer to file a court order that would prevent them from leaving Argentina. The photographer claimed the singer approved of the attack and that the guards forced their way into the club’s security room to view video of the assault. When police attempted to question the guards, the entourage relocated to a gated community.
Bieber is scheduled to perform tonight in Santiago, Chile.