Justin Bieber Was Reportedly Blackmailed By TMZ With Racist Video

When TMZ posted video of Justin Bieber, then 15, making a racist joke using the n-word, the site claimed that it first obtained the footage four years ago, but didn’t post it because, well, he was 15. What TMZ didn’t say is that the outlet reportedly also blackmailed Bieber’s camp with the video for years – “using it as essentially ransom” for appearances and cooperation with stories, an unnamed source tells Gawker.

In the meantime, TMZ did report new details surrounding a second video that surfaced yesterday (June 4), one that Bieber singing of joining the Ku Klux Klan to the tune of his 2009 hit “One Less Lonely Girl.” An unnamed person working on one of the pop star’s video projects had allegedly stolen the footage, then tried to sell it back to Bieber’s camp two months ago for $1 million. (This price is said to have then dropped to $500,000.) According to Gawker’s report, Bieber’s camp decided that, because the footage looks dated at this point, negotiations weren’t worth having.

TMZ also reported that, in light of these videos, Bieber’s mentor Usher sat with the pop star and made him watch historically racist videos, to “drive home how hurtful those words could be.”

But at this point, Bieber’s not the only one who needs a good scolding. Yes, him gleefully singing, “There’ll be one less lonely n—- / if I kill you, I’ll be part of the KKK” is one of the most horrifying things you’ll see today. But media sources basically extorting him for his action – well, that’s also news that’s tough to swallow.

In fact, it’s difficult to decide which is uglier: a 15-year-old making a KKK joke, or the adults trying to profit off his misbehavior.

[via Gawker]