Justin Bieber has been on the road for redemption with his latest tour, which he’s dubbed a “world apology” following his immature antics in recent years.
Unfortunately for the pop star, China’s not buying it.
On Tuesday, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture released a statement confirming that the singer had been barred from performing in the country because of past instances of “bad behavior” in China and elsewhere.
“Justin Bieber is a gifted singer, but he is also a controversial young foreign singer,” read the statement.
“In order to maintain order in the Chinese market and purify the Chinese performance environment, it is not suitable to bring in badly behaved entertainers. We hope that as Justin Bieber matures, he can continue to improve his own words and actions, and truly become a singer beloved by the public.”
The Bureau was responding to a Chinese fan who contacted them, asking why her idol hasn’t performed in the country for several years, despite stops in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.
The statement doesn’t specify which instances of bad behavior caused China to shut its doors to the star, but it doesn’t take too much sleuthing to connect the dots.
In 2014, the singer posted photos of himself visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors Japanese people who died in war, including convicted war criminals from World War II.
The Foreign Ministry of China released a statement at the time, saying: “I hope this singer can learn more about the history of Japanese militarism, and the wrongful historical and militaristic views promoted by the shrine after his visit.”
The year before, Bieber was photographed being carried up the Great Wall of China by his bodyguards. Earlier in his trip, he was filmed skateboarding through the streets of Beijing while being chased by his bodyguards.
Bieber isn’t alone in being banned by China for unsuitable behavior: last year, Lady Gaga was reportedly barred for meeting with the Dalai Lama. Oasis and Maroon 5 were banned for similar reasons.
9 Best and Worst Moments From 2015 MTV VMAs: Nicki Minaj Beefs to Taylor Swift Olive Branches (Photos)
Let's go back to the no host format, shall we, MTV? Miley Cyrus seemed to have two objectives Sunday night: to make mention of weed and sexual innuendo at every opportunity, and to eventually plug her free album at the end of the show. She also wore a ton of stupid stuff that left very little to be desired, for anyone who still desires at this point.
Overall, her efforts should not prove a particularly tough act to follow in 2016.
After receiving the award for Best Hip Hop Video -- and ironically following a shoutout to her preacher -- Minaj bashed Cyrus for mentioning her in a recent New York Times interview.
Cyrus did her best to play it off and transition to the next act, but it was awkward to say the least.
The Biebs performed "Where Are U Now?" followed by brand new single "What Do You Mean?" He then took to the air, flying on a harness at the performance's end. When lowered to the safety of the stage, Bieber broke into tears.
Perhaps the harness was too tight?
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Worst: Kanye West's Latest Rambling Rant
Kanye West is a terrific rapper and a terrible speaker. The predetermined honoree of the MTV VMAs Video Vanguard Award accepted his trophy from old show foe Taylor Swift, and then he got to preaching.
It was the best of efforts, it was the worst of efforts. MTV had a big task Sunday night, trying to keep its flagship awards show to a PG-13 level. For the most part, whoever was manning the "dump" button did a nice job covering up a ton of expletives -- but the cable channel was a bit asleep as the wheel with visual censorship.
Rebel Wilson wore a shirt with the word "Fuck" clear as day on it, and MTV got caught with its host sans shirt (or anything else on top), as Miley Cyrus suffered a nip slip at one point. Not that she cares.
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Best: Macklemore Takes It to the Streets
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rarely give a milquetoast performance, and Sunday's ambitious exterior VMAs performance was no exception.
The duo gave daps to old-school hip-hop with a movement-filled mini set that included guest stars such as Kool Moe Dee. One that that wasn't so great? Macklemore's moped negotiating skills.
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Worst: Clock Management
Like seemingly every awards show, the MTV VMAs simply could not stick within their allotted time. Much of that can be attributed to Kanye West's aforementioned all-over-the-place award acceptance/2020 candidacy speech. That's what you get for giving that guy the one trophy that doesn't come with optional play-off music.
Though the show was somewhere around two-and-a-half hours, most folks in attendance would probably tell you that it felt even longer. Anyway, here's a picture of Demi Lovato and Iggy Azalea.
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Best: Miley Hearts Wayne Coyne
The unlikely lovefest between the 54-year-old Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne and 22-year-old Cyrus continued at the VMAs.
Coyne, who produced the surprise album Cyrus dropped at the end of the show, assisted the pop singer with her performance by holding an air cannon between her thighs and firing as she stroked it. Coyne and Cyrus previously performed together at the Billboard Music Awards, and Cyrus appeared on the Flaming Lips' 2014 Beatles tribute album "With a Little Help From My Fwends."
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Justin Bieber bawled and Kanye West declared his future presidential candidacy on a weird night for pop music
Let's go back to the no host format, shall we, MTV? Miley Cyrus seemed to have two objectives Sunday night: to make mention of weed and sexual innuendo at every opportunity, and to eventually plug her free album at the end of the show. She also wore a ton of stupid stuff that left very little to be desired, for anyone who still desires at this point.
Overall, her efforts should not prove a particularly tough act to follow in 2016.
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