Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram account this week following a brief but mighty onslaught of negative comments related to his new girlfriend, 17-year-old model Sofia Richie. Selena Gomez got involved. Shade was thrown.
And just like that, he was gone.
It’s easy to dismiss the Insta shutdown as pure Bieber drama, or even just the typical trappings of internet culture. But these comments weren’t the work of run-of-the-mill trolls—instead, they were penned by his devotees, his beloved Beliebers.
It seems odd that these longtime (and famously dedicated) fans would turn on their idol so sharply. Why is this innocuous girl the breaking point? Why not the DUI or some other run-in with the law? Or hey, maybe even any of the other countless baby-faced models he’s dated since Gomez?
Turns out it’s a little bit of all of that. Here’s a rant that pretty much covers all their collective grievances.
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It looks like Bieber has finally pushed his Beliebers too far. For a while, his life fit into a tidy narrative—the boy from humble beginnings, hand-selected for fame by the grace of his talent and charm. He dated pop star Selena Gomez (so cute!) and dropped heart-fluttering songs. He perfected that tattooed-and-doe-eyed look that’s just the right amount of bad boy flair. All this, of course, while paying his gracious respects to the fans.
And then the fall: the slow but steady withholding of privileges fans felt they were owed. No more photo ops. No more music power couple. As these little discretions pile up, the fans start to get antsy. How dare he go against their wishes? Does he not realize that they made him famous?
In a certain sense, they did. They gave him the views on YouTube he needed to get noticed and signed. They bought his albums, tickets to his shows, all the T-shirts decorated with his face. It’s their fervent support that made Justin Bieber—or, more intimately, Justin—a household name. Without them, he’s just some douchey Canadian kid with a good voice.
The Beliebers know this, and it’s their power. Because Bieber undoubtedly knows it, too.
It’s unfair to pretend that the possessiveness surrounding celebrities’ lives and actions is exclusive to young female fans. We’ve seen this kind of reaction countless times. Emma Watson cuts her hair off, millions of men grumble that she was much more appealing with with longer locks. Tom Hiddleston dates Taylor Swift, he instantly becomes a sellout. Miley Cyrus starts twerking, it’s a personal affront to parents who expected her to be a chastely-dressed role model forever.
These things are subtle, but the message is clear: We made you who and what you are. You’ll do as we say or you’ll suffer the consequences. In an age in which followers are tallied in such a literal sense on social media, the loss stings pretty immediately.
It’s worth noting that Bieber’s social media drama comes just a week or so after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” actress Daisy Ridley deleted her Instagram account. She had apparently experienced harassment about her weight and struggles with acne in the comments section.
But instead of dismissing Ridley as a crybaby or drama queen, much of the internet has rallied around her cause. Bieber, on the other hand, has not been so graciously received.
There’s an argument to be made—a good one, In fact—that Ridley’s trolls were more purely objectionable than Bieber’s, a question of mean-spirited body shaming versus teenage jealousy. It’s difficult and arbitrary to weigh the severity of one comment’s nastiness versus another’s.
Yet it also seems likely that Ridley, for the time being, is still riding that sweet spot of fame that protects her from fan hate. Fresh off a gigantic blockbuster hit, she’s still charming and genuine—like a 2010 Justin Bieber, even. I wonder how long it will take before we feel like we own her, too.
@EmmaKrupp1 | ekrupp@chicagotribune.com
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