Justin Bieber Upsets Aboriginals With Comments About 'Indians' and 'Free Gas'
Justin Bieber, 18-year-old Canadian crooner, offended some people in his home country recently after making a comment that is considered racist by some aboriginals.
In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine's July issue, Bieber spoke about his ancestry while referring to himself as an "Indian."
"I'm actually part Indian," Bieber said in the publication. "I think Inuit or something? I'm enough percent that in Canada I can get free gas."
Once Dwight Dorey, the vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, caught wind of Bieber's comment, he spoke out against the statements made by the singer that he deemed ignorant.
"That's a term that our people in Canada have been moving away from for years," Dorey said in an Mstarz.com report. "We have enough issues with racism and stereotyping."
Betty Ann Lavallee, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, agreed with Dorey's sentiments.
"These kinds of remarks are another example of what Aboriginal peoples in Canada struggle with every day. It promotes the misconception that we are somehow getting a free ride," Lavallee said in the Mstarz report. "This simply is not the case and we are concerned that many people may believe what he said."
Still, Dorey said that he held no resentment towards Bieber, whose ignorance he believes might be attributed to his age.
"Given that Mr. Bieber is still a young man, and unaware of the facts here, I personally don't think he should be beat up over this comment," Dorey said. "We don't think he was trying to be malicious, or making a joke of aboriginal issues."
Recently, another Bieber comment caused offense when the Canadian crooner spoke about Prince William's receding hairline.
"I mean, there are things to prevent that nowadays, like Propecia. I don't know why he doesn't just get those things, those products," Bieber reportedly told U.K. Rollercoaster magazine about the prince recently. "You just take Propecia and your hair grows back. Have you not got it over here?"
The comments were labeled a diss by many media outlet, causing British journalist and author of Wicked Whispers Jessica Callan to speak out about the matter in a Huffington Post report.
"The Brits are viewing Justin Bieber's diss about Prince William's challenging hair problem in the same way you view an annoying fly buzzing around you. He needs to be swatted away," Callan said. "Wills and Prince Harry may joke about William's thinning hair, but that doesn't mean a kid like Justin can come sauntering in and join in the joke. It's like inviting someone over for dinner and they tell you how awful your carpet is. Even if you agree, how dare they say it?"
Over the past few months, various headlines have focused on Bieber's apparently offensive behavior. After the 18-year-old entertainer's behavior reportedly offended the producers of the television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on which he was making an appearance, his manager Scooter Braun defended Bieber.
"He's a kid," Braun told Rolling Stone in defense of Bieber's behavior. "He's waiting for someone to tell him where the limits are."
