Owning up to his mistakes. Justin Bieber broke his silence on his past vices, including a “problem” with Xanax and sex, in a new joint interview with his wife, Hailey Baldwin.
“I found myself doing things that I was so ashamed of, being super promiscuous and stuff, and I think I used Xanax because I was so ashamed,” Bieber, 24, said in the couple’s Vogue magazine March 2019 cover story of his previous reckless behavior. “My mom always said to treat women with respect. For me, that was always in my head while I was doing it, so I could never enjoy it.”
The “Sorry” crooner added: “Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing. It got pretty dark. I think there were times when my security was coming in late at night to check my pulse and see if I was still breathing.”
Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach in January 2014 for drag racing and driving under the influence. Authorities noted that there was “an odor of alcohol emanating from the driver’s breath” at the time and the musician allegedly later admitted that he had smoked marijuana, took Xanax and drank booze that night.
Hillsong Church pastor Carl Lentz, who is one of Bieber’s mentors, stepped in when he realized the young star had a problem. Bieber moved into Lentz’s New Jersey home in 2014 for an “informal detox,” and the “No Brainer” singer said he has not touched a drug since.
The Drew House designer eventually realized he had a “legitimate problem with sex” as well, and decided to become celibate. He had refrained from having intercourse for more than a year when he reconnected with his now-wife, Baldwin, in June 2018, and the lack of intimacy was one of the reasons why they tied the knot so quickly after getting engaged.
“I think sex can cause a lot of pain. Sometimes people have sex because they don’t feel good enough … because they lack self-worth,” the Canada native confessed to Vogue. “Women do that, and guys do that. I wanted to rededicate myself to God in that way because I really felt it was better for the condition of my soul. And I believe that God blessed me with Hailey as a result. There are perks. You get rewarded for good behavior.”
The model, 22, was best friends with the Biebs at the time of his struggles and recalls that she “grieved very intensely over the whole situation.” She noted: “I just wanted him to be happy and be good and be safe and feel joy. But I’m really proud of him. To do it without a program, and to stick with it without a sober coach or AA or classes — I think it’s extraordinary. He is, in ways, a walking miracle.”
In September 2018, Bieber’s longtime manager, Scooter Braun, admitted that he was once “worried every night” that the “What Do You Mean?” singer “was going to die.”
“I thought he was going to sleep one night and that he would have so much crap in his system that he would not wake up the next morning,” Braun, 37, said on the “Red Pill” podcast.
Bieber and Baldwin dated on and off from 2015 to 2016 before they rekindled their romance two years later. Us Weekly confirmed the news of the couple’s engagement in July 2018 and the pair quietly tied the knot in a courthouse ceremony in September. While they’re already legally married, they still want to have a celebration with their family and friends.
“They are still in the middle of deciding whether or not they want a big or small wedding,” a source told Us last month. “They would love a small wedding, but they have so many people that they want there and they know once they start planning, it could become bigger.”
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