Justin Bieber Reportedly Blew Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Recent Years
Justin Bieber has been in the public spotlight in recent months due to him looking a bit unwell and worn down, but no one expected this.
According to a new TMZ expose, Bieber had to recently sell his music catalog for $200 million before he blew through anywhere from $500 million to $1 BILLION of his career earnings.
The newly released TMZ documentary "What Happened to Justin Bieber?" interviews people close to Bieber who spoke about in detail how the "Baby" singer was on the ‘verge of financial collapse' towards the end of 2022.
The story becomes even more dramatic as Bieber's former longtime manager, Scotter Braun, reportedly tried telling the pop singer that it was too early in his career to sell his catalog and if he was going to sell, to at least wait until 2023 to get a tax break, according to TMZ founder Harvey Levin.
At the time, the 28-year-old Bieber reportedly said the heck with having patience and sold the rights to his massively popular music catalog for around $200 million. (By comparison, Tina Turner reportedly sold her back catalog for around $50 million, Stevie Nicks received around $100 million).
Bieber's catalog contains eight No. 1 Billboard Top 200 singles, which helped bring in over 150 million albums sold worldwide.
With all that success came plenty of money. However, TMZ's new Hulu documentary says that it was nearly all gone by 2023.
"It's not cheap to be the biggest pop star in the world. Of course, he has to charter jets, of course he has mega mansions - which, by the way, we were told he paid cash for all the houses," one of the TMZ investigators chimes in.
The conversation then turned to why Bieber sold his catalog at such a young age, which Levin and others said looked like a "desperate move," before asking what many of us are also wondering: "How on Earth do you blow through a billion bucks?"
NEW TMZ DOCUMENTARY IS CURRENTLY AIRING ON HULU
The unofficial documentary also claims that Bieber still owes, or did owe at one point, concert promoter AEG $32 million after canceling his massive tour in 2023 despite getting an advance from them. Bieber is also currently in the midst of a legal battle with Scooter Braun over a reported $8 million.
Anyone who follows the world of sports knows that athletes in particular can go through a ridiculous amount of money - case in point, Vince Young. who famously declared for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014, just eight years after signing a rookie contract worth $25 million guaranteed.
But half a billion to a BILLION dollars is in a whole different stratosphere, especially when you consider that many times celebrities get things for free or via brand deals (clothes, sneakers, etc). It's not like Bieber is going to Walmart to buy his signature look of plain white t-shirts.
"Bieber Broke" is currently trending across X as the new Hulu documentary is coming at a time when recent photos of Bieber show him looking especially frail and a bit distraught at times. In recent years, Bieber has become more involved with the "Churchome" spiritual group, which the documentary also delves into, with some referring to it as a cult, which the church's pastor Judah Smith adamantly denies.
"TMZ Presents: What Happened to Justin Bieber," is now available to stream on Hulu. This weekend I will be watching it and giving a more in-depth review of it as well as speaking with other people in the music industry about what they think is going on with Justin Bieber - if anything.