Resurfaced Justin Bieber Ellen interview sparks debate over treatment

After Justin Bieber debuted his singing skills after a prolonged break away from high-profile performances, a clip of his time on Ellen has social media commenters reflecting on his treatment by the controversial interviewer.

Bieber was once a common figure on every teenage girl’s bedroom wall, after the release of his My World album in 2010 and its 2.0 album that same year.

However, after having released numerous albums consecutively until 2021, he then took a break until last year with the release of his Swag and Swag II albums.

Within that time, he went on various talk shows to promote his music, where he was asked about his life, and people he was close to.

However, a10-year-old clip from The Ellen DeGeneres Show revealed just how ‘uncomfortable’ things could get for the pop singer.

Justin Bieber's 2015 interview resurfaced (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)

In 2015, when Bieber was around 21 years old, the singer was booked to appear on the hit US show just one month after some of his non-consensual nude photos were published online by outlets after paparazzi took photos of him in a private villa in Bora Bora.

Of course, this was a huge violation of his privacy, for which he took legal action against those responsible, but that’s not how some people of the time thought about it.

Instead, they considered it a talking point to bring up during interviews – like Ellen.

Now that the clip has come back to people’s feeds, some have brought up how 'clearly uncomfortable’ he looked. With one commenter writing: “My heart breaks for younger him.”

When he appeared on her show to promote his latest Purpose album, Ellen put one of the censored images on the big screen behind them, as she asked how he ‘did not see that there was paparazzi’ snapping shots of his naked body.

His 2015 interview has sparked controversy (YouTube/ TheEllenShow/ A Very Good Production Inc.)

The singer responded that he ‘wasn’t really looking out’ for paparazzi as he enjoyed his vacation in what should have been private accommodation.

That’s when Ellen brought up his body, with her telling him: “I’m no expert, but I heard that it was good.”

Ellen then took it one step further to push Bieber about his relationship to a then 20-year-old British model called Jayde Pierce, who was seen in some of the images.

She asked him to clarify if she was his ‘girlfriend’, and when told she was just a ‘friend’, Ellen replied: “You brought a friend to Bora Bora? And you were just naked with your friend? Why can’t you say that you’re dating somebody?”

Bieber then covered his face, and told the host: “Why are you putting me on the spot like this? Stop, you’re making me blush, dude.”

UNILAD reached out to representatives of Ellen DeGeneres for comment.