International pop superstar Justin Bieber gained quite the reputation as a party animal in the 2010s. The singer was frequently in the news for his outrageous antics. These days, however, he has settled down with wife Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) and lives a relatively tranquil life. Subsequently, his newfound domestic bliss has afforded him the time to reflect on his party days.
In recent years, Bieber has offered multiple insights on his party lifestyle. In addition to taking responsibility for his past indiscretions - including some highly problematic incidents - he has acknowledged the unique perspective on life that his past has bestowed upon him. Here's everything Justin Bieber has said about moving on from his party days.
10 His Comedy Roast Was An Eye-Opener
The Comedy Central Roasts are notoriously lewd and foul-mouthed. Despite this, they often expose some painful truths about the participants, which is a major fact in the formula's enduring popularity. Justin Bieber was guest of honor at the Comedy Central Roast in 2015.
Things got real when Bieber took to the stage after being savaged by the caustic celebrity guests: "The things that I've done really don't define who I am. I'm a kind-hearted person who loves people and through it all I lost some of my best qualities. For that, I'm sorry. But what I can say is I'm looking forward to being someone that you guys can all look at and be proud of."
9 His Faith In God Was His Guiding Force
Without his faith in god, Bieber believes he would never have mended his ways. "God was telling me something," he told The Bert Show in 2016. "I am not going to go into detail of what I was doing and where I was at, but I was pretty lost and woke up one day and felt like God was telling me something."
"I called my manager Scooter and said, 'We need to fix it,'" he added. Evidently, Bieber has changed significantly in recent years, and this early admission would be the catalyst for a series of honest revelations regarding his past.
8 The Late Kobe Bryant Taught Him This Valuable Lesson
In an exclusive interview with the UK's The Sun last year, Justin Bieber opened about his desire to turn his life around. He explained that he was largely influenced by the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant, with whom Bieber was friends.
"I've started to realise we have to live life to the full," he stated. "My friend Kobe Bryant reminded me that life can be tragic and it can be short."
7 Without His Troubled Past, He Says He Wouldn't Be The Man He Is Today
At the height of his party animal days, Justin Bieber got into a number of highly publicized brawls. He even almost got beaten up by Orlando Bloom. Now that he has matured, he's been able to reflect on the recklessness of his behavior.
"Everyone, when they start growing up, realizes, 'Man, I did some dumb s**t when I was younger,'" he told GQ in 2016. "It's not just me.… If I could go back, I wouldn't really change much. I think it's all my journey. That stuff made me who I am."
6 He Has Realized That He Can't Blame Others For His Blunders
One of the key ways in which Justin Bieber was able to move on from his past indiscretions was by conceding that he couldn't blame other people for his mistakes.
"In the past when I made mistakes, I would blame God for my own behaviour," he acknowledged in his interview with The Sun. "But he didn't design those things, that's not what he wanted me to do — and it is important to learn from those things that happen... So now I just want to keep pushing, keep moving —we can dwell on our past mistakes or we can move on. Nothing lasts for ever but no pain lasts for ever either."
5 A Lengthy Personal Essay Shed Insight Into His Past
In 2019, Bieber shared a lengthy essay on Instagram in which he reflected on moving on from his party days. "I made every bad decision you could have thought of and went from one of the most loved and adored people in the world to the most ridiculed, judged and hated person in the world," he wrote.
Through years of ceaseless effort, he explained that he has been able to turn his life around: "It's taken me years to bounce back from all of these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships, and change relationship habits."
4 He Admitted To Mistreating Women
With his much publicized break up with Selena Gomez being a frequent source of gossip, Bieber has acknowledged that he mistreated his ex-girlfriends when high on drugs. "I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships. I became resentful, disrespectful to women and angry," he admitted in his personal essay. "I became distant to everyone who loved me... I felt like I could never turn it around."
However, he did not directly refer to his treatment of Gomez, who has recently accused her ex of subjecting her to "certain abuse."
3 His Drug Use Almost Led To An Early Death
Last year, a documentary series entitled Justin Bieber: Seasons was released on YouTube. Raw and painfully forthright, Bieber opened up about the severity of his past drug use. The episode "The Dark Season" saw Bieber make a shocking revelation: he was extremely close to an early death at the height of his addiction.
"My security and stuff would come into my room at night to check my pulse," he admitted. "People don't know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary. I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary."
2 Commitment Issues Plagued Him
These days, Justin Bieber enjoys a serene domesticity with his wife Hailey, whom he wed in 2018. However, he has confessed that his party animal lifestyle got in the way of his ability to commit to women. Opening up to Apple Music in 2020, he said, "In my previous relationship, I went off and just went crazy and went wild, just was being reckless."
However, now that he has moved on from his debauched lifestyle, Bieber has been able to build a loving and faithful bond with Hailey, despite his initial reluctance to commit to her. "This time, I took the time to really build myself and focus on me and try to make the right decisions and all that sort of stuff. And yeah, I got better."
1 Realizing That He's Imperfect Has Been Essential To Moving On
Nobody's perfect, goes the old adage. But it can often be pretty easy for multimillionaire superstars to view themselves as flawless beings. Realizing that he isn't perfect was a major turning point in Bieber's life.
"As humans, we are imperfect," Bieber said in a video announcement last year. "My past, my mistakes, all the things that I've been through. I believe that I'm right where I'm supposed to be and God has me right where he wants me... We all have different stories. I'm just excited to share mine."
