'He was scared to death of me': Judge Judy claims Justin Bieber had security alert him in order to avoid her
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Judge Judy who used to be a neighbor of Justin Bieber claims that the 'Peaches' singer used to be "scared to death" of her and took precautions to prevent any potential run-ins at their complex.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, the 80-year-old no-nonsense TV personality and former prosecutor, real name Judy Sheindlin, said some of her earlier remarks about the pop star's DUI arrest in 2014 had caused him to be wary of her.
"He's scared to death of me," she said. "There was a period of time before he grew up, when he was foolish and doing foolish things. 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."
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The "foolish things" the judge is referring to appears to be regarding the then-19-year-old Bieber's DUI arrest in 2014. Prior to that arrest, the 'Baby' singer had already been charged with vandalism and assaulting a limo driver, among other offenses. Judge Judy had harsh words for the pop artist after his DUI arrest.
"Being a celebrity is a gift. You can either treat it reverently, or you can make a fool out of yourself, and he's doing a very good job of making a fool out of himself," she told CBS News at the time. "And I think it's sad. 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 pop star, who wed Hailey Bieber in 2018, opened up on social media on the seventh anniversary of his Miami arrest about that time in his life and how his connection with God had helped him improve. "7 years ago today I got 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….. I also wore too much leather for someone in Miami. All this to say God has brought me a long way," Bieber wrote on Instagram last year, alongside a photo of himself hunched over in handcuffs.