Did Justin Bieber just shade Aaron Carter's 'paved the way' tweet?

In case anyone was wondering, Justin Bieber definitely saw Aaron Carter‘s tweet about having made Bieber’s career possible.

Carter, 30, who’s promoting his 2018 album, Love, made the comments Tuesday on Twitter, where he regularly interacts with both fans and haters. A suggestion that Carter should have had Bieber’s level of success prompted Carter to refer to Biebs directly and as part of a group of “kids” who never gave him credit for having “paved the way.”

Bieber, 24, responded by offering to be Carter’s “hype man,” and not so subtly pointing out that Carter’s biggest hit was released in 2000. For the record, Bieber was 6 then and Carter himself was only 13.

Carter accepted Bieber’s compliment and, within a few hours of his original tweet, Bieber clarified his stance.

Love is Carter’s fifth album. Since the younger brother of Nick Carter, of the Backstreet Boys, began singing as a kid, he’s struggled publicly with an eating disorder, bankruptcy and other issues. He has referred to Bieber in the past and said he thinks Biebs is a better singer.

Meanwhile, Bieber, who’s sold millions of albums worldwide since releasing his first record in 2010, is taking a break from music.

[Editor’s note: This post was originally published Nov. 21, 2018 at 9:07 p.m. ET.]

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