Justin Bieber and the paparazzi have a long, pockmarked history, stretching all the way back to when Bieber was a small, pockmarked teen. Bieber became extremely famous at a very young age, something most people have been reminded of due to his links to P Diddy, who is currently awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The young Canadian singer was discovered via YouTube in 2008 by Scooter Braun (the same record executive who bought Taylor Swift’s masters, prompting her to re-record them all). His breakthrough single, One Time, was released in 2009, when Bieber was just 15 years old.
Bieber’s youth was consistently mocked and derided, with interviewers and celebrities making inappropriate, sometimes sexual comments towards the young star. That much we remember.
But not everyone remembers just how tumultuous Bieber’s relationship with the paparazzi has always been.
He and the paps were back in the headlines this month due to Bieber making a public plea for the paparazzi to calm down, writing on Instagram alongside a video of them outside his house: “This needs to stop.”
Some of the earliest evidence of Bieber’s relationship with the paps comes from June 2010, when 16-year-old Bieber was papped walking hand in hand with 29-year-old Kim Kardashian on a beach in the Bahamas. Bieber’s fanbase, which was already well-established at this stage, went wild, along with the press, even though it turned out the pairing was actually part of a “romantic” photoshoot the duo was doing for Elle.
A month later, the singer was photographed driving around in a white Lamborghini, allegedly gifted to him by P Diddy, while out to get frozen yoghurt in Los Angeles. Driving in the car with friend Sean Kingston in the passenger seat, the pair are photographed up close while the window is down, indicating a proximity to the car that will become relevant later.
That same month, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched-for celebrity on the internet.
By March 2011, Bieber had clearly become irritated by the incessant paparazzi attention, showing his middle finger to the paps while in a car with girlfriend Selena Gomez, which he had to later apologise for.
The next month, he lashed out at photographers who followed him around on a trip to Tel Aviv, Israel. In a series of Twitter messages, the 17-year-old (who is a practising Christian) wrote: “You would think paparazzi would have some respect in holy places. All I wanted was the chance to walk where Jesus did here in Isreal (sic).
“They should be ashamed of themselves. Take pictures of me eating but not in a place of prayer, ridiculous… People wait their whole lives for opportunities like this, why would they want to take that experience away from someone… Staying in the hotel for the rest of the week u happy?”
Things got worse in 2012, when Bieber claimed he was chased down the 101 freeway at high speeds by a paparazzo, causing Bieber to be issued a speeding ticket by California Highway Patrol for driving recklessly. In December 2012, he threw a water bottle in the direction of a paparazzo while leaving a store in Miami, which was dubbed “diva behaviour” by the press.
Then, on the first day of 2013, Bieber’s relationship with the paparazzi reached a dramatic climax. On January 1, 2013, a paparazzo looking to grab a picture of Bieber in his white Ferrari was fatally struck by a car during a police traffic stop.
California Highway Patrol officers had pulled over the Ferrari for allegedly speeding on the 405 Freeway near the Getty Center. Bieber wasn’t even in the vehicle at the time, it was instead being driven by Bieber’s friend Lil Twist, the rapper.
The paparazzo, 29-year-old Chris Guerra, reportedly parked his SUV nearby and ran across the street to get a better view of the Ferrari as it sat parked on the freeway. After CHP officers asked Guerra to move away because the situation was unsafe, he turned to go back to his car but was hit by an oncoming SUV before he could reach his vehicle.
Bieber said in a statement: "While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim. Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation.”
Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus caused a stir by appearing to compare him to Princess Diana, saying: “Hope this paparazzi/JB accident brings on some changes in '13," she wrote on Twitter. "Paparazzi are dangerous! Wasn't Princess Di enough of a wake-up call?!”
A few months later, 19-year-old Bieber got into an altercation with paparazzi in London, where he burst out of a vehicle and lunged at a man but was restrained by his bodyguards. Bieber also swore and made threatening comments at the man. Bieber later tweeted: “Ahhhhh! Rough morning. Trying to feel better for this show tonight but let the paps get the best of me… Sometimes when people r shoving cameras in your face all day and yelling the worst thing possible at u... well I'm human. Rough week...”
In 2014, a photographer allegedly rear-ended his red Ferrari as he was chased through the streets of Los Angeles. Bieber himself then compared the incident to Princess Diana’s death, tweeting: “...I don’t have a problem with the paparazzi but when they act recklessly they put us all in danger [...] There should be laws against what I just experienced. We should have learned from the death of Princess Diana...”
Then, in 2015, the guilt flipped, with Bieber pleading guilty to assault and careless driving charges in connection with a collision and altercation with a photographer near his Canadian hometown of Stratford, Ontario. According to reports from the time, Bieber and Selena Gomez were together when they were “disrupted by the unwelcome presence of paparazzi,” leading to a collision between a minivan and an all-terrain vehicle and then a “physical altercation”.
In 2017, he accidentally ran over a photographer with his truck while trying to pull out of the alley where he had parked to attend a church service held at the Saban Theater on Wilshire Boulevard, in the heart of Los Angeles. Bieber tended to the photographer afterwards, and the pap later shot a video from the hospital in which he called Justin “a good kid” despite what happened.
In 2019, Bieber was sued by paparazzo Robert Barbera for sharing a picture of himself taken by Barbera, with the photo being techncially Barbera’s copyright, not Bieber’s. Bieber settled the case.
In between 2019 and 2024, things were mostly calm between Biebs and the paparazzi, save for one Covid-era incident where he called out paps for “loitering” around his house. In fact, during this period Bieber became very adept at talking the paps down or bargaining with them for privacy. In 2023, he struck a “deal” with some paparazzi, allowing them to take photos of him in order for them to leave him alone later.
But the paparazzi never went away. In 2021, a four-hour-long paparazzi compilation video of Bieber was posted to YouTube, with some commenters observing that Bieber may be “the most documented person in the world.”
Now, in 2025, Justin Bieber’s patience appears to have worn thin again. Bieber has been obsessively snapped in recent months, leading to paparazzi images where he appears gaunt and dishevelled. There has been doubt cast over his relationship with Hailey Bieber, despite the couple welcoming their son Jack Blues Bieber just last year. In other paparazzi images, Hailey can be seen leading Justin through crowds in what looks like a protective presence.
Most recently, Bieber posted a video of a swarm of paps outside his house with the caption “This has to stop.” In an Instagram Live days later, the Purpose singer filmed himself as he appeared to be chased by paparazzi.
