For Coachella Weekend 2, Justin Bieber hit the stage with Ariana Grande as her surprise guest to perform his song "Sorry."
During the performance, it's pretty clear Justin's using a backing track, as the audio is identical to the studio version of the song.
Ariana Grande brought out Justin Bieber and then he announced a new album on the way
People were quick to call him out for lip-synching:
Justin Bieber struggles to lipsync at Coachella 2019
So Ariana just impromptu brought Justin Bieber out for him to lip sync the whole song except for like half a verse... Biebs get it together #Coachella #ARICHELLA
ari rlly brought out justin bieber to lip sync and awkwardly annouce that he’s coming back i meannnn
One of those people was E!'s Nightly Pop host Morgan Stewart, who criticized his performance:
@justinbieber @Morgan_Stewart this is what she said
Justin must've gotten wind of the situation and clapped back on Twitter, saying the host was being bully-like:
@Morgan_Stewart just saw a video of you ripping me to shreds saying I was lip-syncing. They played the song and i just sang overtop of it.. regardless why spend your time tearing people down. It’s People like you that are bullies at school that are making kids suicidal.
@Morgan_Stewart imagine if you spent even half the time you spend laughing at other peoples expense actually building people up and encouraging people how much positivity you could bring. What hurts about this is the fact that you have a platform to make a difference
He also said she turned something positive — Justin's return to performing — into a negative moment:
And rather than try and make people feel accepted and loved you find things to pick apart like the world isn’t full of that already.. we can find something negative to say about anything or anyone
Ariana chimed in with a clapback/explanation of the situation, saying the performance was a last-minute decision:
And in a now-deleted tweet, Ariana added:
Circling back. Your fans, friends, and the world is thrilled to have you back. Everyone was so happy to see you smile like that. No one will ever understand how it feels to be you, but it’s not their job to. Take care. Make music. You are loved. P.S. everyone in that video will be streaming. I don’t like when people try to ruin beautiful moments for my friends."
Looks like Justin's wife, Hailey, appreciated Ariana having Justin's back:
As do I. Gotta love when celebs defend each other, tbh. Let's just all be kind to each other. Sound good? Good. Bye!
