Justin Bieber apologises for using racist N-word as a teen

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 09: Justin Bieber attends the fight between KSI and Logan Paul at Staples Center on November 9, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. KSI won by decision. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Justin Bieber has expressed regret for usign racist language in the past (Credit: Getty Images)

Justin Bieber has expressed his regret for using racist language when he was a teenager, claiming he was “uneducated”.

In 2014 a video emerged of the Sorry singer aged 14 using the N-word in a racist joke.

Bieber, 25, shared a post on Instagram of the words, “Stand against racism.”

He captioned the image: “When I was young I was uneducated and found myself saying really hurtful things not knowing the power of my words. Racism Is still very prevalent and I want to use my voice to remind we are all human being and all of EQUAL VALUE BEFORE GOD! [sic]”

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When the footage emerged in 2014 Bieber released a statement saying: "As a kid, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was okay to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realise at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance.

"I'm very sorry. I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologise for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again."

FILE - In this May 11, 2014, file photo, singer Justin Bieber watches the Los Angeles Clippers play the Oklahoma City Thunder during Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series in Los Angeles. Toronto prosecutors on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, told a court they have dropped assault charges against Bieber in connection with an incident involving a Toronto limousine driver. The charge withdrawn Monday stemmed from an early-morning incident late last December, when Bieber and five other people were picked up by a limousine from a Toronto nightclub.  (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Justin Bieber in 2014 (Credit: AP)

The I Don’t Care singer also apologised in April 2014 after posting a photograph of himself standing in front of the contentious Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, Japan.

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China and South Korea regard Yasukuni, which honours leaders executed for war crimes among 2.5 million Japanese war dead, as a symbol of Japanese militarism. Biever later said he had been unaware of the shrine's controversial role.

And in 2013 he caused outrage during a visit to the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam, writing: "Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber."

Anne Frank died aged 15 in a Nazi concentration camp.