Justin Bieber Denies Sexual Assault Allegations, Claims He Was With Selena Gomez

Photo credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin - Getty Images
Photo credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin - Getty Images

From ELLE

Trigger warning: This post contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault.

In a message posted to Twitter, a young woman accused Justin Bieber of sexually assaulted her in Texas in 2014, back when he was dating his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez. Bieber responded to the allegation last night with a long thread denying he did so and sharing hotel receipts to back his claim. He also threatened to take legal action.

"Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed," he tweeted. "However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action."

The woman, who went simply by Danielle, wrote that she met Bieber in 2014. (Her Twitter account has since been deleted.) She alleged:

After hearing about Gabby’s story with Ansel, it gave me courage to share mine. So this is a thank you to Gabby.

My name is Danielle, and for personal reasons, I will not be stating my last name. I’m posting this anonymously because I’m not ready to come forward and reveal myself. If he comes across this, you know who I am. I know you remember me. I hope your life is hell after this and you drown in guilt.

On March 9, 2014, I was sexually assaulted by Justin Bieber. Justin was with his former ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, for a concert in Houston, Texas. Me and my two other friends heard Scooter Braun was having an event at Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden that Sunday night in Austin, Texas. Performers like Cody Simpson, Tori Kelly, The Wanted, and more were attending the event. Then, later that night, Justin Bieber surprised the audience with about 100 people at the bar and performed a few songs. He publicly dedicated a few to Selena. My friends and I were enjoying ourselves the entire night. A man then approached me and my friends and asked us if we would like to wait after the show to meet Justin. I thought it was strange at first and sketchy but as promised, we all waited after the show because we were fans. Justin came up to us, we took some pictures and chatted for about 20 minutes (for legal reasons, I will not be sharing the photos) Justin and some other man, who appeared to be his friend, invited us over to the Four Seasons Hotel.

Once again, we said yes. We didn’t think anything of it, other than hanging out with a huge celebrity. Fast forward to arriving at the hotel. Justin’s friend brought my 2 friends to a room, and he took me to another room. Justin had me agree to not say anything to anyone, or I can get in serious legal trouble. He asked for my phone and put it to charge. I guess it was an excuse to take it away from me. He then asked me to join him in bed. That’s when I asked myself, "how in the world is this normal? I’m in a HOTEL ROOM with THE Justin Bieber." I than [sic] began to think that this was suspicious. I asked him where Selena was to make conversation, he told me not to worry about it and that she’ll come up to the room later. I kept asking questions to add to our conversation, but he then leaned in to kiss me. I was shocked. I was taken away by what he just did. I figured it was a sign to make me shut up, so I kissed him back. I thought to myself that I had a few drinks and hopefully he can tell by the way my breath smells like alcohol and nothing wrong will happen next. I knew he was with Selena but I thought this is what every typical pop star is like—wanting other female attention, because their current significant other isn’t enough. Typical Hollywood stuff.

Keep in mind this was in 2014, around the time where he was "out of control" Our small kisses then turned into a steamy makeup session. He had pushed me down onto the bed after about 10 minutes of sitting up, got on top of me, started kissing me down my neck and made his way down to my stomach. He found my jeans, unbuttoned them, removed them, and started tracing my underwear with his fingers. My thoughts then started to roam around my head and I started to second guess myself. I kept asking myself, "What about Selena?", "Did I consent to this?", "How will she react if she finds out?", "Where are my friends?", "How is this normal and okay?." I told him that this was going too far and that we should stop because I needed to find my friends, most importantly because I felt guilty about Selena. That’s when he told me: "Relax. They’re all okay." He then pulled my underwear down, unbuckled his pants, pulled his underwear down, grabbed the bed covers, and threw it over us. His body was on top of mine, skin-to-skin. I was very uncomfortable, and I felt myself starting to hyperventilate. I told him to get off because I was starting to worry about my friends, but it was too late. He forced himself inside me before I got the last few words out. He was thrusting in and out me. As I laid there, speechless. My body felt unconscious.

I don’t want to go into detail about what happened next. Although, this was 6 years ago, although I was one year older than him (he was 20, I was 21), I was still sexually assaulted without my consent. Fast forward to late last year, I finally decided to speak up about it. I told my close friends and my immediate family. It was hard, but I finally got to tell my story. If you’ve ever been a victim of sexual assault, I believe you. You and your story matter. You are valid. You are heard. I will stand with you. What happened to me was not okay. It took me YEARS to finally speak up about it, but it is never too late to do so. Just because he is a huge pop star with a lot of money and millions of fans, doesn’t make this okay and [like it] should go unnoticed. I am still recovering. Attending multiple therapy sessions, seeking help, and talking to people. Thank you for listening to my story.

Danielle

Fans noted that other Twitter users tweeted about seeing Bieber at the Four Seasons on March 10, 2014. Bieber and his team denied he stayed there.

Last night, Bieber posted an extensive denial of Danielle's claims. He wrote:

I don’t normally address things as I have dealt with random accusations my entire career but after talking with my wife and team I have decided to speak up on an issue tonight. Rumors are rumors but sexual abuse is something I don’t take lightly. I wanted to speak out right away but out of respect to so many victims who deal with these issues daily I wanted to make sure I gathered the facts before I made any statement. In the past 24 hours a new Twitter appeared that told a story of myself involved with sexual abuse on March 9, 2014 in Austin Texas at the Four seasons hotel. I want to be clear. There is no truth to this story. In fact as I will soon show I was never present at that location. As her story told I did surprise a crowd in Austin at Sxsw where I appeared on stage with my then assistant side stage and sang a few songs. What this person did not know was that I attended that show with my then gf Selena Gomez.

He then linked out to an Us Weekly piece, writing, "This article from 2014 talks about Selena being there with me."

"These photos clearly show me on stage with my assistant sidestage and the other with both of us in the streets of Austin afterwards on March 9 2014," he continued.

He also pointed out that people spotted him at the Four Seasons on the 10th, not the 9th:

Bieber continued: "Furthermore I stayed with Selena and our friends at an airbnb on the 9th and on the 10th stayed at a Westin because our hotel reservation at LÀ Quinta and not the four seasons was messed up. Here are the receipts for the hotel on the 10th."

"We have also confirmed with the Four Seasons regional manager that I was never on property on the 9th of March 2014 and never a guest on the 9th or the 10th and I welcome all press to inquire with them if needed or wanted."

"On march 10th selena left for work and I stayed at the Westin as the receipts clearly showed with my friends nick and john before I left town. Once again not at the four seasons. We booked it for a couple days to stay for the defjam show but I bailed on the 11th to head back home," he continued. "I won’t be using mike lowery anymore as an alias."

He ended his thread by asserting Danielle's story was "factually impossible," and that he would be working with "authorities to take legal action."

Danielle came forward after another young woman accused the actor Ansel Elgort of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. She has also since deleted her Twitter account.

Elgort released a statement hours later, saying, "I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings, but her description of events is simply not what happened. I have never and would never assault anyone. What is true is that in New York in 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal, and entirely consensual relationship. Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well." You can read his full statement below.

You Might Also Like