Judge Judy and Justin Bieber. Shutterstock (2)
Keeping his distance. Judge Judy claimed that Justin Bieber avoided her when they were neighbors due to her comments about his legal issues.
“He’s scared to death of me,” the TV personality, 80, whose real name is Judy Sheindlin, told Access Hollywood on Monday, November 7. “There was a period of time before he grew up — when he was foolish and doing foolish things.”
According to the former prosecutor, Bieber, 28, allegedly attempted not to cross paths with her when they lived next door. “I must have said something about it, and then, I understood that he was paying the front door people to let them know when I was there, coming and going, so he wouldn’t have to bump into me,” she claimed.
The New York native previously weighed in on the singer’s personal life when he was arrested for drag racing and DUI in January 2014. Later that year, Bieber entered a plea deal to avoid jail time. He was ordered to complete 12 hours of anger management, pay court fees and make a $50,000 donation to charity.
The Judy Justice star, for her part, publicly addressed Bieber’s arrest. “Being a celebrity is a gift,” she shared with CBS Los Angeles at the time. “You could either treat it reverently or you could make a fool out of yourself. And he’s doing a very good job of making a fool out of himself.”
She added: “I think it’s sad. And nobody’s going to remember that he was a marginal singer. But they’re going to remember a young kid who had a chance to have it all and who is blowing it by acting like a fool.”
The “Peaches” artist also reflected on his run-in with the law when he posted a photo of himself in handcuffs.
“7 years ago today I was arrested, not my finest hour. Not proud of where I was at in my life. I was hurting, unhappy, confused, angry, mislead, misunderstood and angry at God,” the Canada native, who is now married to Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin), wrote via Instagram in January 2021. “All this to say God has brought me a long way. From then til now I do realize something. … God was as close to me then as he is right now. My encouragement to you is to ‘let your past be a reminder of how far God has brought you.”
In the lengthy social media post, Justin encouraged his followers to learn a lesson from his past actions. “Don’t allow shame to ruin your ‘today’ let the forgiveness of Jesus take over and watch your life blossom into all that God has designed you to be. LOVE YOU GUYS WITH MY WHOLE HEART,” he concluded.
