When Teen Idols Attack: Justin Bieber Beat Up a Photographer (Seriously?!)

Justin Bieber went postal on a paparazzo who tried to snap his picture over the weekend. Goodbye, squeaky clean image, hello, bad boy?

-Lucia Peters

Uh oh—looks like Justin Bieber is shedding his squeaky clean image and embracing his inner bad boy, because guess what? He’s currently a suspect in criminal battery. Who knew that a teenager whose lyrical heights include such gems as “Baby, baby, baby, oh!” could be harboring such darkness?

Naturally, TMZ broke the news first. Just after noon on Sunday, Justin and his lady love, Selena Gomez, were strolling about The Commons, a shopping mall in Calabasas, CA. (where, you’ll recall, the Biebs currently resides) It was then that a paparazzo attempted to snap the couple’s picture—but Justin didn’t take kindly to having his afternoon encroached upon by a nosy photog. A fight broke out, eventually resulting in the photographer calling 911 and complaining of pain to his upper torso. By the time the cops arrived, the Biebs and Selena had split. As of late Sunday night, neither calls from TMZ nor the Hollywood Reporter to the Biebs’ rep had been returned.

The paparazzo filed a police report naming Justin as the culprit, and the police are investigating the incident as a misdemeanor battery; right now, the teenaged singer is wanted by the LA Sheriff’s Office for questioning.

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Lest it just sound like Justin went batty for no reason, however, TMZ also reported that several witnesses at the scene said that a) after the altercation, a lawyer approached the photographer and told him that he could potentially get a heck of a lot of money out of it and advised him to call for an ambulance and file a police report; and b) the photographer had been blocking Justin’s car as he was trying to leave. Justin reportedly got out of the car and asked the photographer to move; when he wouldn’t, the fight broke out.

I don’t know about you, Bettys, but to me, it kind of sounds like everyone is in the wrong here. No, Justin probably shouldn’t have broken out his tiny teenaged fists here; but at the same time, the paparazzo should have respected Justin’s wish not to be photographed in the first place. Something for Justin to bear in mind, though: He’s 18 now, so he can be tried as an adult if this thing goes to trial. Whoops.

A note to the photographer: You do realize that from here on out and forever after, you’re going to be known as “the fully grown man who got beaten up by Justin Bieber,” right? I hope the money’s worth it, because let’s face it: That’s just embarassing.

Tell us: What do you think? Should the Biebs really have tried to fight his way out of the situation?

Lucia Peters is BettyConfidential.com’s associate editor.