Justin Bieber Apologizes for Hailey Baldwin Pregnancy April Fools Joke: 'I Am a Prankster'
Is it too late now for Justin Bieber to say sorry for his April Fools Day prank?
The 25-year-old pop star has apologized amid criticism that the false pregnancy announcement with wife Hailey Baldwin was insensitive.
“There’s always gonna be people offended, there’s also people who don’t take jokes very well, I am a prankster and it was APRIL FOOLS,” he began in a lengthy note shared to Instagram. The words captioned a screenshot of an article reporting on the backlash that he received on social media over the intended joke.
On Monday, Bieber posted two Instagrams implying that Baldwin was expecting. The first was a captionless photo of an ultrasound, while the second was a set of photos that showed Baldwin surrounded by medical professionals touching her stomach area. “If U thought it was April fools,” he captioned the second post.
However, Bieber then revealed the whole thing was a joke when he shared a third and final post, a doctored ultrasound photo that included the head of a puppy. He captioned the image, “Wait omg is that a,,, APRIL FOOLS.”
Wait omg is that a,,, APRIL FOOLS
A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Apr 1, 2019 at 2:12pm PDT
Many across social media were quick to point out that joking about pregnancy can be hurtful to many people who have struggled with conceiving or have lost their children.
“I didn’t at all mean to be insensitive to people who can’t have children,” Bieber continued in his message. “A lot of people I know, their first go to prank on April fools is telling their parents they are pregnant to get a big reaction. But I will apologize anyway and take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended.”
A post shared by Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) on Apr 2, 2019 at 10:03am PDT
Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette, responded by commenting on his photo that revealed it was all a prank. “Ya well it better be,” she wrote before posting a longer message. “Ha ha. Happy #AprilFools. I’m always on guard and ready for you today.”
Bieber continued to apologize in his note, saying, “I truly don’t want anyone to be hurt by a prank.. it’s like when I shoved cake in my little sisters face for her birthday expecting her to laugh but she cried. You sometimes just don’t know what will hurt someone’s feelings not to compare pregnancy with cake in the face but it’s just to paint the picture of not knowing what will offend. Some might have laughed but some were offended .. I think With pranks u sometimes have to roll that dice.”
He closed his missive with the hashtags, “#prankster #dennisthemenace #sorry #truly”
