Justin Bieber has responded to the sexual assault allegation against him
Trigger warning: This article discusses sexual assault.
On Saturday, June 20th, a woman named Danielle tweeted allegations of sexual assault against Justin Bieber. She started her story by writing that she was inspired by Twitter user @ItsGabby who came forward with a sexual assault allegation against Ansel Elgort the day before. “After hearing about Gabby’s story with Ansel, it gave me courage to share mine. So this is a thank you to Gabby,” Danielle wrote in since-deleted tweets.
She went on to share her story, claiming that she was sexually assaulted by Bieber on March 9, 2014, when she and some friends went to an event in Houston, Texas, where Bieber did a surprise performance. She wrote that a man approached her and her friends, asking if they wanted to meet Bieber after the show, and they said yes. Eventually, she alleged that she ended up alone in a hotel room at the Four Seasons hotel with Bieber. After they allegedly started kissing, she asked him to stop, she wrote, because she wanted to find her friends and felt guilty on account of Selena Gomez, who Bieber was dating at the time. She claimed that he told her to relax, then undressed her and got on top of her.
“I was very uncomfortable and I felt myself starting to hyperventilate,” Danielle wrote. “I told him to get off because I was starting to worry about my friends, but it was too late. He forced himself inside me before I got the last few words out.”
Anonymous woman accuses Justin Bieber of sexually assaulting her at the Four Seasons in 2014, Bieber’s camp deny the claims and say he was staying at an Airbnb on that date. pic.twitter.com/nXMSQMqmpi
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 21, 2020
Danielle said that she first opened up about her story late last year, telling her story to her close friends and immediate family. “It was hard, but I finally got to tell my story,” she wrote. “If you’ve ever been a victim of sexual assault, I believe you. You and your story matter. You are valid. You are heard. I will stand with you.”
On Sunday night, Bieber responded to the allegation in a string of tweets, calling Danielle’s story “factually impossible.”
“I don’t normally address things as I have dealt with random accusations my entire career but after talking with my wife and team I have decided to speak up on an issue tonight,” Bieber started. He wrote that sexual abuse isn’t something he doesn’t “take lightly” and that he waited until he had “gathered the facts” before making a statement.
He started by claiming that he was at the concert with then-girlfriend Gomez, also using an Us magazine article from 2014 as proof that they were there together.
As her story told I did surprise a crowd in Austin at Sxsw where I appeared on stage with my then assistant side stage and sang a few songs. What this person did not know was that I attended that show with my then gf Selena Gomez
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
This article from 2014 talks about Selena being there with me. https://t.co/Jr2AE0brY2
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
He went on to share screenshots of receipts from his Airbnb from March 9th and the Westin from March 10th, denying that he stayed at the Four Seasons.
The Pics I showed of me and Selena march 9 in Austin should make it clear that we were together that night and went from the venue to our Airbnb and never went to the four seasons. This is our airbnb receipt where we crashed with our friends pic.twitter.com/4ZDIqjeCIQ
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
On march 10th selena left for work and I stayed at the Westin as the receipts clearly showed with my friends nick and john before I left town. Once again not at the four seasons. We booked it for a couple days to stay for the defjam show but I bailed on the 11th to head back home pic.twitter.com/Ku15SCYz91
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) June 22, 2020
Bieber finished, writing, “Every claim of sexual abuse should be taken very seriously and this is why my response was needed. However this story is factually impossible and that is why I will be working with twitter and authorities to take legal action.”
Gomez hasn’t spoken out to confirm or deny Bieber’s claims that he was with her at an Airbnb at the time of the alleged assault.
If you are a sexual assault survivor and need help, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to speak to a trained counselor. You can also chat online with a counselor here. Both services are available 24/7.
