Earlier this week, Canadian pop phenom Justin Bieber claimed his camera and computer had been stolen, giving his followers a lecture about respecting others' property. Within hours, a shot of a nude young man purported to be Justin circulated on the Internet. Though the man in the photo sported a tattoo similar to Justin's, fans were quick to point out that his belly button was not the same shape as the pop star's.
Yes, the nude was fake. And it was circulated by Justin Bieber.
On Friday, Justin began tweeting links to a number of stories about his so-called "Bieberconda." He subsequently wrote, "since i was 14 i have had a lot of things said about me, from dying, to taking hormones, to dying again, to stuff about my family... to saying i had a baby with a woman i never even met. nude pics, drugs, my family, my character...but today...today i get to be in on it..."
Justin then tweeted a link to his brand new music video for "Beauty and the Beat," which is comprised of "found footage" supposedly uploaded by an "anonymous blogger." It is, of course, a big-budget affair with synchronized swimmers and snippets of personal video from Bieber's life on the road. Bieber wrote, directed, and shot the whole thing.
Justin Bieber punked the Internet, and he punked it well.