In
the 1970s, an angry, maligned rock star would throw his television out of his
hotel window, but Justin Bieber has gone for the millennial-style nuclear
option — deleting his Instagram account. The baby-faced Canadian musician, 22,
committed online hara-kiri after becoming upset by a barrage of negative
comments about his new friendship with Sofia Richie. LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER
03: Singer Justin Bieber performs onstage during KIIS FM's 2012 Jingle Ball at
Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 3, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. /AFP
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 03: Singer Justin Bieber performs onstage during
KIIS FM’s 2012 Jingle Ball at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 3, 2012 in
Los Angeles, California. /AFP The pair have been pictured stepping out together
several times in recent weeks, amid a frenzy of rumors linking them
romantically. Reacting to insults posted by fans alongside pictures of the
17-year-old model — singer Lionel Richie’s daughter — Bieber told his 77
million followers: “I’m gonna make my Instagram private if you guys don’t stop
the hate. “This is getting out of hand, if you guys are really fans you
wouldn’t be so mean to people that I like.” But the millionaire singer appears
to have gone a step further, as clicking on links to his Instagram page now
yields an error message. Fellow singer Selena Gomez, Bieber’s former
girlfriend, took the opportunity to twist the knife before the account was
deleted. “If you can’t handle the hate then stop posting pictures of your
girlfriend lol — it should be special between you two only,” the 24-year-old
posted. “Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you. They were there for you
before anyone.” “It’s funny to see people that used me for attention and still
try to point the finger this way. Sad. All love,” Bieber countered. “Funny how
the ones that cheated multiple times, are pointing the finger at the ones that
were forgiving and supportive, no wonder fans are mad. Sad. All love,” Gomez
retaliated. Bieber is the latest in a series of celebrities dealing with abuse
on social media by closing their accounts. Actress and comedian Leslie Jones
quit Twitter temporarily in June — devastated by a torrent of racist and sexist
abuse aimed at her by trolls. Bieber recently shut his Snapchat account too,
and announced in May that he would no longer be taking pictures with fans in
public. “It has gotten to the point that people won’t even say hi to me or recognize
me as a human,” he wrote on Instagram. “I feel like a zoo animal, and I wanna
be able to keep my sanity.” Bieber and Gomez dated for almost two years from
January 2011, but spilt up citing busy schedules. Some fans interpreted
“Sorry,” from Bieber’s album “Purpose,” which came out in November last year,
as a message from the former child star to Gomez. Bieber has had a string of
legal run-ins for incidents including throwing eggs at a neighbor’s house,
driving under the influence of alcohol without a license and allegedly
assaulting a photographer.
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