Fan meet-and-greets are making Justin Bieber depressed. So he’s going to stop entertaining them.
The pop star, just a few short weeks into his Purpose world tour, dropped some bad news on uber-fans Tuesday night, posting on Instagram that he won’t be meeting with them before his shows because they leave him “feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression”. That’s bad news to anyone in Massachusetts who shelled out for meet-and-greet action before Bieber’s two TD Garden appearances, May 10 and 11. Refunds will be issued, according to reports.
The Biebs writes: “Love u guys.. I’m going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people’s spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy.. Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression .. The pressure of meeting people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised. Can’t tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn’t so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I’m in to give you the best show you have ever seen.”
But things may run deeper than just a mental break. On Tuesday, Idolator reported that Bieber experienced a “security incident” at a recent show, and all meet-and-greets were shifted into what’s being now called a “VIP hangout.”
“During a recent show, there was a security incident that caused our team to have to meet and re-think how meet and greets were handled,” writes Bkstg, the company running Bieber’s VIP packages, on its website. “This is a new tour with new venues almost every night and still a changing process, but we have decided for the time being that this is our best course of action. We are letting everyone affected know, are offering refunds, and are also offering the alternative of a VIP hangout where both pics and videos can be taken of Justin, just no longer a group pic with him… Please note that there are no partial refunds, so you would also be forfeiting your ticket in exchange for your money back.”
As news of Bieber’s decision spread on social media, fans seemed to support the move; #WeAreHereForYouJustin became a trending topic on Twitter, with many agreeing that the singer’s mental health was more important than meeting fans.