The pattern happens over and over and over again, doesn't it? For Justin Bieber, it feels especially harsh, because I think the kid has some talent, if he doesn't drive himself off the celebrity brat pack cliff first.
When you establish your celebrity via social media, you live the ups and the downs that way, too, as Bieber is discovering.
The world’s richest teenager, waved to a flock of tearful fans from his SUV as he left the prison about 2:30 p.m. after being charged with DUI, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license. He posted a $2,500 bond.
His release came about an hour after the 19-year-old’s hearing in Miami-Dade circuit court, via video, appearing less cheerful than in his glassy-eyed-but-smiling police mugshot. Clad in an orange-red prison jumpsuit, his sleeves rolled up to reveal his tattooed arms, he was solemn, letting his high-profile lawyer, Roy Black, do the talking.
The singer’s demeanor was in sharp contrast to his 4 a.m. performance with Miami Beach police officers, when he allegedly swaggered through his arrest, reeking of alcohol and firing off a string of F-bombs.
“Why the f--- did you stop me?'” he asked officer Fulgencio Medina, who finally cornered him near 41st Street as he was peeling down Pine Tree Drive at 55 to 60 mph in a yellow Lamborghini, according to the police report. The speed limit on that stretch, from 26th to 41st streets, is 30.
After allegedly smoking pot all day, drinking beer, clubbing, popping anti-depressants and spending some time in a recording studio, the lead-footed singer and a buddy launched the predawn race in their rented wheels early Thursday.
The drugs and alcohol are bad enough, but what really makes my teeth clench? Getting behind the wheel of a car so he could endanger innocent drivers on the street.
It's easy to just write Bieber and others like him off as having too much too soon. But I see a darker side, where we expect so much from these young performers that they break under the pressure of too-newly acquired celebrity.
