Bieber apologizes after late show leaves girls in tears
LONDON (AP) - Justin Bieber apologized Tuesday to his young fans - and their outraged, overtired parents - after they accused him of taking the stage almost two hours late for a concert in London.
The singer insisted he had only been 40 minutes late, and blamed "technical issues."
But, he added in a tweet to his 35 million followers: "There is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and I'm proud of that."
Concertgoers said the teenage star appeared onstage at the 02 Arena on Monday at 10:30 p.m., when the start time had been listed as 8:30. Many in the audience, who had been waiting for hours, faced the choice between leaving early or missing the last trains home.
"There were teenage girls crying outside," said financial analyst Louise Cooper, who had taken her 9-year-old daughter to the gig as a birthday present.
"The ladies sitting with us had to leave after 20 minutes and they had spent 70 quid (70 pounds, about $106) each on a ticket, which is really bad.
"It's one thing if your demographic is 50-year-olds, but his demographic is lots of little girls who need to go home and go to bed."
Tracy Wilson, who attended the show with her teenage daughter, said people began booing when Bieber had not appeared by 9:30. She called the lack of explanation "disgusting."
The venue apologized on its Twitter feed "to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight."
Critics said the Canadian star, who turned 19 on Friday, risked alienating fans by behaving with the same disregard for timekeeping as more hard-edged rock stars.
John Aizlewood in the Evening Standard newspaper said Bieber had shown contempt for young fans, leaving them "exhausted, disillusioned and probably late for school this morning."
Bieber, who is due to play three more nights at the venue Tuesday through Thursday, has been photographed out on the town several times during his current British tour.
"Since I have been here it hasn't been easy with the press at times but I have loved it," Bieber tweeted.
"I never have any intent to upset or let anyone down. And I'm not okay with things being exaggerated. Once again sorry for anyone upset."
He promised that he would put on a "great show" Tuesday - and it would start on time.
The singer insisted he had only been 40 minutes late, and blamed "technical issues."
But, he added in a tweet to his 35 million followers: "There is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and I'm proud of that."
Concertgoers said the teenage star appeared onstage at the 02 Arena on Monday at 10:30 p.m., when the start time had been listed as 8:30. Many in the audience, who had been waiting for hours, faced the choice between leaving early or missing the last trains home.
"There were teenage girls crying outside," said financial analyst Louise Cooper, who had taken her 9-year-old daughter to the gig as a birthday present.
"The ladies sitting with us had to leave after 20 minutes and they had spent 70 quid (70 pounds, about $106) each on a ticket, which is really bad.
"It's one thing if your demographic is 50-year-olds, but his demographic is lots of little girls who need to go home and go to bed."
Tracy Wilson, who attended the show with her teenage daughter, said people began booing when Bieber had not appeared by 9:30. She called the lack of explanation "disgusting."
The venue apologized on its Twitter feed "to all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight."
Critics said the Canadian star, who turned 19 on Friday, risked alienating fans by behaving with the same disregard for timekeeping as more hard-edged rock stars.
John Aizlewood in the Evening Standard newspaper said Bieber had shown contempt for young fans, leaving them "exhausted, disillusioned and probably late for school this morning."
Bieber, who is due to play three more nights at the venue Tuesday through Thursday, has been photographed out on the town several times during his current British tour.
"Since I have been here it hasn't been easy with the press at times but I have loved it," Bieber tweeted.
"I never have any intent to upset or let anyone down. And I'm not okay with things being exaggerated. Once again sorry for anyone upset."
He promised that he would put on a "great show" Tuesday - and it would start on time.
The kids deserve it for being dumb enough to want to hear that trash - and the parents deserved it for letting them!
Maybe he'll be late to a few more and his tween-tramp fans will start hating him so we can ALL stop having to hear about Mr. Loser.
If the nutless wonder was REALLY sorry, he would refund everyone's money.
What's with the gloves? and is that his wee wee you can see in the picture? If so the news station should remove it. The picture that is
Who is he?????
A real musician would come out with an acoustic and entertain solo, 2 amps and a guitar and you couldn't be creative enough to do that, instead you hid backstage.....opportunity lost dude.
Giant pacifiers for everyone!
This little man-boy is on self-destruct mode, ala Brittney Spears. Some adult, like a parent or a manager ought to step in. Nah, that would mean giving up their meal ticket.
If these kids are brought to tears over something like this, they've got a long tough rode ahead of them unless they learn to cope !
Time for Justin to GROW UP! Man up. Time for him to go off to any college and earn degree in any major and just disapper from the public.
Isn't it time that this little idiot gets what he deserves? Low ratings and a declining fan base sounds really good. He is hardly deserving of this adulation...you might as well throw money into the ocean then help this little moron keep up his lifestyle. Go to school Justin...learn something real.
Looks like he really does not care about his fans. He has forgotten where his money comes from.
JERK!!!
Nice pants.
@GladiOla I'm ashamed I clicked on this story, then when I read your comment I HAD to look at the pics.....now I'll slither away and pour some lye in my eyeballs. Â
@Sundowner @GladiOla Ya don't feel so bad, I had to ask the question " Is that his little wee wee" we all saw it .Â
@Pvpbw What he was barely holding onto with his thumb and pointy finger?  Hahaha!  Poor 'little' guy.
@Sundowner @GladiOla I fear, thanks to the kids, that I will someday attend a Bieber show (he better be on time).
@Sundowner @deejm2112 @GladiOla Do you still have those connections? I can barter....
@deejm2112 @GladiOla I have numerous hats and used to work in the industry.  My kids never got free tickets (against policy), but they got the best seats...they still thank me for that. Â
@GladiOla @deejm2112 I'll bring my ear plugs and get a kick out of it. I love live music and I'll have a good time dancing with the kids.
@deejm2112Â I guess I was not nice, I never took my kids to something I did not want to attend. You have fun though. Â :)
@Sundowner @GladiOla Agh! Dammit!
@tigress Haha!  You clicked on the article too!  I don't feel so bad now.  Did you see where ormom got back to me?  She had to backpedal all the way around the block and then failed anyway.  Fun to annoy...er, play with, though.  Can't wait for another good CakeBoy story so she'll thump her way around the forum a bit.