Is it too late to say sorry?
Justin Bieber has offered an explanation for why he dropped the mic and walked off stage during a concert in Manchester, England last week.
In a message he shared on Twitter — and then deleted — Bieber said he just wants his fans to listen to him when he talks between songs at his concerts.
“People tend to want to shut you down. What I mean by that is … people try to twist things, some people don’t want to listen,” he wrote. “But I simply feel like, if I didn’t use this platform to say how I truly feel, and if I didn’t use this platform to be the man that I know I am, and speak from what’s in my heart, then I’m doing myself injustice, and I’m not doing anybody in this audience any justice.
“There’s going to be times where I say the wrong thing, because I’m human. But I don’t pretend to be perfect and I hope to God that, you know, I don’t say the right thing all the time, because if that was the case then I’d be a robot, and I’m just, I’m not a robot. There’s times when I get upset … times when I get angry, there’s times when I’m going to be frustrated. But I’m always going to be myself on this stage.”
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The Biebs also said reports of the incident were unfair.
“When people try to twist things and say, ‘Justin’s angry at his fans. He doesn’t want his fans to scream’, that’s not at all what I was doing. All I was simply doing was wanting people to listen; to kind of hear me out a little bit,” he said.
“Certain people … certain cities aren’t going to want to hear me out, and you know, sometimes it’s my job to just say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to try to force anything’. I just appreciate you guys tonight, listening to me and understanding, and rocking with me. You guys are truly amazing.”
It was the third time in a week that the Canadian pop star had expressed frustration with the crowd’s excitement.
“I appreciate all the support, I appreciate love, I appreciate the kind things,” he said. “But the screaming in these breaks has got to stop. Please and thank you.
“I don’t think it’s necessary when I’m trying to say something and you guys are screaming.”
When Bieber finally returned to the stage, he told fans he wouldn’t be doing any more talking.
“I feel like I wanna connect with you,” he said. “I’m just going to quit the talking, all right. I’m not going to talk the rest of the night.”
A few nights earlier, Bieber chided fans for screaming.
"I just thought I could have a moment of trying to say something," he said Oct. 20, also in Manchester.
"But if not, I'll just get to singing if you guys don't want to hear me speak. I don't mind cutting the bulls**t. I don't need to talk. I'm just trying to engage."
Two nights earlier, during a show in Birmingham, Bieber suddenly stopped talking and asked the crowd to calm down.
"Could you do me a favour? Could you guys just relax? For, like, two seconds,” he asked. “I get it, but I'm like two feet away from you, and I can hear you. I appreciate it, I appreciate all the love, it's amazing, but can you show it in a different way?
"The screaming is just so obnoxious. I get it. It’s been in our blood, it's ingrained that you go to a concert and you scream and stuff. But, if we could just scream after the song -- enjoy the song, you scream, it was awesome, it's fun, and then... you take a chill pill for a second, and we just listen to me speak.”
Bieber complained that he feels like he’s not being heard. “It gets a little frustrating. So if when I'm speaking, you guys could not speak at the top of your lungs, is that cool with you guys? Could we do that?”