MAUREEN CALLAHAN uncovers an unspeakably evil open secret in Hollywood... Justin Bieber's cry for help is just the start

By MAUREEN CALLAHAN, US COLUMNIST

Published: | Updated:

If you want to know the true cost of child stardom, look no further than Justin Bieber at Sunday night's Grammys.

Not that the mainstream entertainment media will ever admit what's clearly going on here.

Before ever taking the stage, Bieber posed stone-faced on the red carpet with his wife, Hailey. He sat expressionless and unamused as the show's terrible host, Trevor Noah, tried to engage him in pre-show banter.

And when it was time for Bieber, 31, to take the stage — a performance billed as his big comeback after a rocky year — he appeared wearing only boxer shorts and socks, his chest, arms and neck covered in tattoos.

As he stood before the crowd — his music industry peers — his message seemed clear: Look what you've all done to me.

Look at what this industry has done to me.

We all saw Bieber struggle mightily last year, a struggle that coincided with the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial.

With the resurfacing of that video, taken when Bieber was 15 and Diddy was around 40, of 'Justin Bieber's 48 Hours with Diddy!!'

Justin Bieber makes return to the Grammys alongside Hailey
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When it was time for Bieber to take the stage, he appeared wearing only boxer shorts and socks, his chest, arms and neck covered in tattoos

It currently has over 13 million views on Bieber's YouTube channel.

The caption: 'Justin Bieber is a 15 year old small town kid from Stratford ON... who posted videos on youtube [sic] for fun and then was discovered at 13 and is now living a dream he never thought possible thanks to the support of fans like you'.

Diddy, speaking to the camera while a very young, fresh-faced, smiling Justin stands beside him: 'Where we hangin' out and what we doin', um, we can't really disclose, but it's definitely a 15-year-old's dream.'

Is it, Sean? Was it ever?

Never forget Usher, who told Rolling Stone in 2004 that he went to live with Diddy when he was just 13 and under the hip-hop star's mentorship.

The year was 1994. Diddy would have been about 25 years old.

Diddy, Usher said, exposed him to 'a totally different set of s**t — sex, specifically. Sex is so hot in the industry, man.'

Note that phrasing. Sex, in the industry, is the cost of doing business. There are no rules, no boundaries, and if you want to be successful, you find a way to normalize depraved, deviant, potentially abusive behavior quickly.

Of living in Diddy's home, Usher said, 'There was [sic] always girls around. You'd open a door and see somebody doing it, or several people in a room having an orgy. You never knew what was going to happen'.

Usher was a child.

What do you think Justin Bieber saw, or was exposed to? What was the cost of doing business for him?

We all saw Bieber struggle mightily last year, a struggle that coincided with the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial (Pictured: Diddy and Bieber in 2010)

Never forget Usher, who told Rolling Stone in 2004 that he went to live with Diddy when he was just 13 (Pictured: Bieber and Usher in 2010)

Of course, there is no evidence that Bieber was abused. But the way he deliberately presented himself at the Grammys seems highly disturbing.

Many former child stars tell us, implicitly and explicitly, of the alleged horrific abuses they suffered — in an industry that knows all too well what goes on.

No one knew about Diddy? We've all seen the star-studded photos from his orgiastic white parties.

Just as no one knew about Harvey Weinstein.

Take a look at the devastating documentary Quiet on the Set, in which former Nickelodeon child star Drake Bell recounts the sexual abuse — attacks, really — that producer Brian Peck subjected him to.

Ariana Grande is in this doc too, shown as a Nickelodeon child star performing what appears to be near-pornographic content.

Grande says she was never abused on set, though after the documentary premiered, she said: 'We pushed the envelope with our humor. And the innuendos... it was like the cool differentiation... Now looking back on some of the clips, that's like, "Damn, really? Oh, s***."'

Grande also credited her 'strict' and 'very protective' mom for sheltering her and always being supportive of her career 'in a healthy way.'

Paris Hilton is out on a press tour, again talking about the alleged sexual abuse and forced medicalization she claims she suffered at four different institutions for 'troubled teens'.

Former child star Jennette McCurdy's 2022 blockbuster memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, documented the alleged sexual abuse she survived, both by her mother and a senior industry executive she called 'The Creator'.

She writes about 'The Creator' pressuring her into wearing a bikini onscreen, something she dreaded for fear of being looked at as 'sexual'.

How ironic that Bieber's reemergence coincided with the latest document dump of the Epstein files, emphasizing the child abuser's vast web of connections to powerful people. Yet, to date, only Epstein and his longtime co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell have ever been charged with a crime.

Of course, Bieber doesn't appear in the Epstein files, as far as we know. But the connective tissue is clear: Extremely powerful people behaved deplorably — if not legally, then morally — to zero consequence.

We've seen more horrific images of former Prince Andrew — who, again, has not been charged with any crime and denies wrongdoing — barefoot and on his knees, touching a young woman who is splayed out on the floor.

We've seen more horrific images of former Prince Andrew barefoot and on his knees, touching a young woman who is splayed out on the floor

Bill Clinton, who has also never been charged and claims he's committed no crime, was photographed in a pool with an unidentified woman; in another picture he's swimming with Maxwell.

He and Hillary have now agreed to testify before a Congressional committee investigating Epstein — but so what?

Does anyone really think that if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had committed a crime he would be charged, let alone see the inside of a prison cell?

Does anyone believe for a second that Bill Clinton, if guilty, would be held to account?

Again: appearing in photos with Epstein in not evidence of wrongdoing. But it doesn't look great, does it?

Even Brett Ratner, the director of Melania Trump's documentary, which debuted in theaters over the weekend, is in this latest document dump, photographed with his arms around a woman sandwiched between him and Epstein.

Now, of course, again, this doesn't suggest any evidence against Ratner – and he says that woman is his former fiancée and he didn't have a personal relationship with Epstein. But it sure looks weird.

So of course the industry's new lambs seem disconsolate. The immensely talented Chappell Roan walked the red carpet topless, wearing a sadomasochistic dress that hung from her nipples, her eyes utterly dead.

For people who seem to have everything — fame, wealth, adoration — Sunday night's Grammys had far too many miserable young moneymakers.

Justin's performance on Sunday recalled no one so much as Britney Spears, herself an American tragedy.

In 2007, Spears appeared onstage like a heavily medicated zombie, barely making her way through a performance also meant to be her comeback after having her two children.

Chappell Roan goes topless under shawl at 2026 Grammy Awards
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So of course the industry's new lambs seem disconsolate. The immensely talented Chappell Roan walked the red carpet toples, wearing a sadomasochistic dress that hung from her nipples, her eyes utterly dead

Spears wrote in her memoir, The Woman in Me, that she knew she was in no condition to perform.

'I didn't want to, but my team was pressuring me to get out there and show the world I was fine,' Spears wrote. 'The only problem with this plan: I was not fine.'

She will likely never be well, just as we'll probably never know the extent of her suffering as a child and teenage megastar.

Justin, too, did not seem fine on Sunday night.

Upon finishing his song Yukon, Bieber simply bowed his head and shuffled off stage. Then he took a beat, came back, and confusedly looked at his podium before walking off again, numb to the crowd's cheers.

His wife stood and applauded, smiling broadly. Host Trevor Noah called Bieber's performance 'captivating'.

Justin Bieber seemingly tried to tell that room what the industry has done to him. And instead of sitting there shocked, saddened, silent, they chose to applaud.

That tells us everything.

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Comments (15)

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c
capone, Pittsburgh, United States, moments ago

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

that den needs a good Exorcism

G
GiveItABash, Dublin, Ireland, moments ago

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

He's in his 30s now so his past or whatever may or may not have happened doesn't matter anymore. He can take responsibility for his own life & if he can't, well f. UK him. He's nobody elses responsibility or problem. The same goes for ever other form....

L
LizardSalaryPort, Newberlin, United States, 6 minutes ago

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

Thank God detective Maureen is on the case! :)

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