Justin Bieber's Never Heard of Bette Midler, So We Made Him a Quick Primer

Justin Bieber, meet Bette Midler

In his cover story for Billboard, Justin Bieber addresses his recent nude photos and, more specifically, the response to his father’s tweet complimenting his, um, assets, which read: “[W]hat do you feed that thing #prouddaddy.” Bette Midler then tweeted, “The biggest dick in this situation is the dad who abandoned his son.”

“This Britt Meddler,” Bieber told Billboard. “I don’t even know who that is, honestly. I wanted to immediately say ‘Who is this lady?’, but then I’m just fueling this negativity. I do feel the photo was an invasion of my privacy. I felt super violated. My dad made light of it, but I don’t think that’s sick and twisted. It was funny. Dads are going to be dads.“

Midler tweeted in response, "Britt Meddler! I don’t know who that is either! But damn that bitch!” (There is, for the record, a Disney star named Bridgit Mendler.)

Clearly Justin Bieber could stand to learn a little about the titans of his industry! So here’s a quick primer.

Biography

Bette Midler was born in Hawaii; her parents named her after Bette Davis, though Midler’s first name is only one syllable. In 1965, when she was 20, Midler moved to New York where she began her career performing off-off-Broadway. In the years since, Midler has released 13 studio albums, selling more than 30 million records worldwide. She’s won three Grammys, three Emmys, a special Tony, and been nominated for two Academy Awards.

Recording Career

Midler began to amass a fanbase when she started performing at the Continental Baths, a bathhouse in New York, in 1970. A bathhouse is a place where people do sex stuff to each other in public. (Got your attention now, huh, Justin?) Midler’s signature song is perhaps her cover of “Wind Beneath My Wings,” which she recorded for the film Beaches, winning Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Midler’s “The Rose” is another of her massive hits and her first gold single. If you’re looking for something a little livelier, look no further than “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”

Acting Career

Midler is probably best known these days as one of the three Sanderson sisters (alongside Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker) in Hocus Pocus.

Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler, and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus (Giphy)

You can find other notable performances of hers in Beaches, The First Wives Club, The Rose, and For the Boys (the latter two earned her Academy Award nominations for Best Actress).

Public Persona

One of Midler’s most delightful qualities is her sense of humor and, in particular, her willigness to make light of herself. Midler appeared on an episode of Seinfeld as herself, in which George injures Bette so that Jerry’s girlfriend and Bette’s understudy Gennice can get her time in the spotlight, a la Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan.

Midler, one of the first sponsors of the Adopt-a-Highway program, also played herself on an episode of The Simpsons, in which she personally cleans up trash along the highway.

She also runs one of the best celebrity Twitter accounts around: