The artist appeared to address fan concerns about his mental health in a social media post calling out “people who are mean and hurtful.”

Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber in Los Angeles on March 26.DUTCH / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Justin Bieber is hitting back at what he calls “gossip” and “lies” on social media, addressing for the first time a whirlwind of concerns about his mental health that has spread online in recent months.

Bieber’s personal life has been a nonstop focus of internet speculation for years, with his every move documented by fan accounts and celebrity-focused media. Most recently, fans expressed concern on social media about his behavior at Coachella, where he was filmed smoking while dancing.

Bieber has rarely responded to the online rumors, but posted to Instagram on Thursday.

“They treat me like a– out here, but if I remember that I am flawed too and god forgave me, It helps me to stop feeling better than those people who are mean and hurtful,” Bieber, 31, wrote. “Because when I’m really honest I can be mean and hurtful too.”

A representative for Bieber did not respond to a request for comment.

The pop superstar, who’s spent his entire adolescence and adulthood as a household name, has been open about the way his early fame has affected his mental health. More recently, he’s posted online about his “anger issues” and his fears around being “inauthentic” or “not enough.”

That has done little to quell the online fervor around his personal life and anything he posts online.

In recent months, his online followers have raised speculation about a series of cryptic social media posts from Bieber, who has been particularly active on Instagram this year. The posts, along with the fan-captured videos of him at Coachella, have fueled unverified rumors about whether the Canadian singer is struggling with substance use or mental health issues.

During the music festival, Bieber also posted content to his Instagram page of him enjoying an artist’s set and riding in a golf cart on the Coachella grounds with friends.

In February, a rep for Bieber told TMZ that rumors around Bieber are untrue, and that the continual speculation about his mental and physical health is “exhausting and pitiful and shows that despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive.”

In his latest Instagram post, Bieber wrote: “my instinct is to be like damn I wouldnt gossip and spread lies about someone on the internet but there’s other s— I do I’m not proud of.”

As Bieber grew from a teenage internet phenom to a full-blown pop culture entity, his love life has been the focus of intense scrutiny and obsessive speculation from fans.

Throughout the course of his decadelong relationship with his wife, Hailey Bieber, 28, fans have consistently compared her his former flame Selena Gomez, often making unfounded accusations about the two women.

This parasocial dynamic, in which fans adopt one-sided emotional bonds with their favorite celebrities, has led to assertions about Bieber’s alleged lingering affection for Gomez. Their highly publicized on-and-off romance became a formative pop culture saga for some fans, who now insist that Biebers’ marriage is disingenuous.

The pair, who got married in 2018, welcomed their first child, Jack Blues Bieber, last year.

In 2020, Hailey Bieber shared in a lengthy Instagram post that she “hurt[s] very easily when I feel like people don’t see my heart and see me for who I am,” adding that social media is “SUCH a breeding ground for cruelty.”

“I could sit here all day and say the hate doesn’t bug me, that the words that are said don’t affect me. But NEWS FLASH: it hurts to be torn apart on the internet!!!” she wrote. “It hurts to be compared to other human beings every single day, it hurts for people to jump to conclusions and make assumptions.”

In his post on Thursday, Justin Bieber also appeared to allude to the persistent internet gossip around his relationship.

“And honestly if I was u it would be hard not to be jealous if I saw me and Hailey going so brazzzzyy,” he wrote. “It’s really up for us and that’s understandable why people can’t stand it. I don’t blame em.”