Justin Bieber rebuts 2014 sexual assault allegation: 'This story is factually impossible'

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Updated ·9 min read

Justin Bieber is vehemently denying a sexual assault allegation made against him — and threatening legal action over the “factually impossible” claim.

On Saturday, a woman named Danielle (no last name is given) accused the “Yummy” singer of sexually assaulting her on March 9, 2014, at the Four Seasons hotel in Austin, Texas, where Bieber — who was accompanied on the trip by then-girlfriend Selena Gomez — was attending the SXSW festival. She outlined her allegations in several Twitter posts, then deleted her account.

Below are the screenshots, in which she claims she was approached at an event held by Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, asking if she and her friends wanted to meet the superstar, who performed a set. She says she and her friends met Bieber and his friends at the Four Seasons. They started kissing and it turned into more, at which point Danielle wanted to stop and Bieber allegedly “forced” himself on her, assaulting her, during which her “body felt unconscious.” She said it took her “years” to share her story, doing so with her inner circle late last year.

However, Bieber disputes this anonymous account and replied offering what he says is proof that it didn’t happen. His denial started noting that he has “dealt with random accusations” his “entire career.” And while “rumors are rumors,” “sexual abuse is something I don’t take lightly.” After conferring with wife, Hailey Baldwin, and his team, he decided to speak out.

He said there is “no truth to this story,” of a sexual assault on March 9, 2014, in Austin, and went on to outline how “I was never present at that location.”

He said while he did surprise a crowd at a SXSW event, “what this person does not know was that I attended that show with my then [girlfriend] Selena Gomez.”

He provided reports that Gomez was at the show with him and that they arrived after Gomez’s own show in Houston that night, as well as photos of himself on the streets in Austin after.

He went on to say that he wasn’t staying at the Four Seasons that night — or the night after.

He says he was staying at an Airbnb rental with Gomez and friends. The following night, Gomez left for work and he stayed at a Westin with friends. He provided emails and receipts from his stay at the hotel.

He says he also confirmed with the Four Seasons manager that he wasn’t at the property on March 9 or 10.

Bieber said he would no longer be using Mike Lowery as an alias when he travels. (The Westin bill had the fake pseudonym that he apparently used for travel.)

Bieber ended by saying, “Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed. However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action.”

Gomez hasn’t publicly commented.

A second woman, identified as Kadi, also used Twitter to accuse Bieber of sexual assault in NYC in 2015. Those tweets were captured by Pop Crave.

However, questionable tweets have surfaced, including one in which she said she had never met him — after the alleged incident.

Bieber did not address the second claim. Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to his manager, Braun, and his attorney and will update this story when we hear back.

Justin Bieber performs at the Scooter Braun Projects Sunday Funday Showcase at on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Justin Bieber performs at the Scooter Braun Projects Sunday Funday Showcase at on March 9, 2014 in Austin, Texas. (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Before Bieber married Baldwin, he had an on and off, high-profile romance with Gomez from 2010 to 2018. After they split and he settled down with Baldwin, Bieber shared a candid post detailing how he spiraled out of control during the height of his fame.

“18 with no skills in the real world, with millions of dollars and access to whatever I wanted," the singer wrote. “I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all my relationships.” He said he also “became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry,” and “I became distant to everyone who loved me, and I was hiding behind, a shell of a person that I had become.”

The post was a vehicle to say that he had moved on to “the best season of my life ‘MARRIAGE’ !! Which is an amazing, crazy, new responsibility,” he wrote. “You learn patience, trust, commitment, kindness, humility, and all of the things it looks like to be a good man.”

The allegations against Bieber came in the wake of Ansel Elgort denying that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2014.

And on Sunday night, Riverdale star Cole Sprouse posted a thread in which he said he and three castmates were “falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on twitter.” He said the accusations “were factually untrue” and noted it was “the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me.”

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