Justin Bieber Doesn’t Care About the Haters, He Knows Himself

Justin Bieber did his first interview in 9 months with The Hollywood Reporter where he says stuff like Will Smith counsels him every week and that he doesn’t “give a f**k what they say.” They being the haters or anyone who’s critical of him. Oh and he showed up to the interview in a onesie. He says about his fashion.

“I’m very influenced by black culture, but I don’t think of it as black or white,” he says. “It’s not me trying to act or pose in a certain way. It’s a lifestyle — like a suaveness or a swag, per se. But I don’t really like to say the word [‘swag’] anymore. It’s kind of played out.”

Guys, he doesn’t think of black culture as black or white but he calls it black culture anyway even if it’s actually really hip-hop culture.

We also find out Bieber rolls with a pastor who sends him scripture every day.

No, the buds accompanying Bieber to this THR cover photo shoot in L.A. include Pastor Judah Smith of Seattle’s nondenominational City Church, an adviser who texts Bieber daily with a scripture chosen specifically for the singer (Smith met the teen and his mother, Pattie Mallette, at a 2010 sermon); former minder-turned-stylist-turned-close friend Ryan Good; and mild-mannered DJ Tay James, who always is just an arm’s length away from Bieber’s Macbook, which contains a slew of music still in progress.

Bieber doesn’t care about the critics either or anyone critical for that matter. He wants to be surrounded by nothing but yes-men who agree with everything he says.

And Bieber is using that voice, telling THR in his first interview in nine months that sometimes you just have to say, “I don’t give a f—.” Elaborates Bieber: “Not ‘I don’t give a f—‘ to just be reckless and do whatever, but ‘I don’t give a f— what they say.’ … I know who I am and what I’m doing in my life and what I’ve accomplished and continue to accomplish as a performer, as a writer, as an artist, as a person, as a human being. I’m happy with the man I’m becoming.”

Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, really loves to sell Justin Bieber.

“He’s the only person in humanity who’s grown up the way he has — with smartphones and cameras on him 24/7,” says Braun. “Another kid can go out and have a good night on the town, and no one gives a crap, but Justin is the most Googled person on the planet — for four years straight!”

Bieber isn’t a bad guy either. Just look. He has an excuse for everything he’s been criticized for.

So what’s precipitating these shenanigans? “I think his moments of anger come from his resentment towards the ridicule [and] of being judged for things, which a lot of times he hasn’t even done,” says Braun. Spitting on his fans (as he did from a Toronto hotel balcony in July)? “Justin was playing the loogie game with his friends over the freaking porch! They put two separate pictures together, implied something, and the whole world ran with it.” Desecrating a photo of Bill Clinton as caught on tape during the mop-bucket fiasco? “The moment it came out, Justin called Bill Clinton to say, ‘I made a dumb mistake.’ ” Disrespecting the Argentinian flag? “I’m so sorry, and I hope you can forgive this mistake,” tweeted Bieber after video surfaced of him using his shoes and a microphone to sweep two flags offstage in Buenos Aires.

Did you know Will Smith likes to lecture Bieber?

But the most present mentor is Will Smith. Braun tells of a particularly tough time for Bieber around the time he returned from his world tour in May that prompted the movie star to drive to Bieber’s house and pull him out of bed for a three-hour talk. Bieber’s reaction, according to Braun: “He said, ‘Man, that makes me feel so loved. I woke up, and there’s Will Smith, one of, if not the, biggest movie stars on the planet. He took time out of his day for me.’ “

That evolved into a weekly call wherein Smith counsels Bieber on any issues he has.

Now, Bieber and Smith have a weekly call to go over any potential issues, emotional or otherwise. (Scientology has never been discussed.) At the same time, Braun adds of Smith, “He’s telling me: ‘Justin’s got to go through it. You can’t stop him from going through it. That’s youth in itself. He’s a young man who’s growing up, and that’s what makes him interesting and relatable. Otherwise, he’d be some kind of weird robot.”

Celebrities are f*cking weird.