Justin Bieber has apologized for his "insensitive" April Fool's Day joke in a lengthy message on Instagram.
"There’s always gonna be people offended, there’s also people who don’t take jokes very well, I am a prankster and it was APRIL FOOLS. I didn’t at all mean to be insensitive to people who can’t have children," wrote the singer.
"A lot of people I know, their first go to prank on April fools is telling their parents they are pregnant to get a big reaction. But I will apologize anyway and take responsibility and say sorry to people who were offended. I truly don’t want anyone to be hurt by a prank.. it’s like when I shoved cake in my little sisters face for her birthday expecting her to laugh but she cried. You sometimes just don’t know what will hurt someone’s feelings not to compare pregnancy with cake in the face but it’s just to paint the picture of not knowing what will offend. Some might have laughed but some were offended .. I think With pranks u sometimes have to roll that dice."
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This article was originally posted on April 1, 2019.
Did the Biebers make a serious misstep with their April Fool's Day joke? The internet certainly thinks so.
It's a well-known fact that we can trust just about nothing on April 1, and Justin and Hailey Bieber's "pregnancy announcement" was no exception. On Monday, the "What Do You Mean?" singer dropped a photo of a sonogram (from the first page of a Google search result for "sonogram") on his Instagram account, before following it up with a pic of wife Hailey holding her stomach in what appeared to be a doctor's office. Mere hours later, Justin shared a third Instagram photo, of a puppy dog superimposed over the sonogram — indicating that, as anyone with access to a calendar could attest, this pregnancy was a joke.
For many people, it was more than just a silly, and obviously fake prank. Justin was immediately called out for insensitivity, as many people around the world deal with fertility struggles on the daily.
"pregnancy jokes on April fools are not funny," wrote one person on Twitter, tagging the Biebers. "Some people go through life spending tons of money, energy, and emotions trying to conceive that don’t have celebrity money!"
@enews word to the wise!!!! Please tell @justinbieber and @CarissaCuliner and @haileybieber pregnancy jokes on April fools are not funny!!! Some people go through life spending tons of money, energy, and emotions trying to conceive that don’t have celebrity money! Stop! #DailyPop
— Jennifer reed (@Jennife36592586) April 1, 2019
"PREGNANCY IS NOT A JOKE," echoed another. "Many do want kids and cannot have them. Shame on @justinbieber for thinking this is funny."
@voguemagazine you left out a VERY important aspect out of this story. PREGNANCY IS NOT A JOKE. Although you did explain that women don’t need kids, many do want kids and cannot have them. Shame on @justinbieber for thinking this is funny. https://t.co/DpPwT6oDUD
— Cali Schmidt (@calibrelyn) April 1, 2019
"1 in 4 women who have miscarried and the 1 in 8 who are infertile and can't have children at all? I don't see the humour in that," replied one.
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1 in 4 women who have miscarried and the 1 in 8 who are infertile and can't have children at all? I don't see the humour in that
— Amber Nicole (@AmbieNicole89) April 1, 2019
"Wow. @justinbieber and @haileybieber are the epitome of ignorance and insensitivity. I can only hope they receive enough backlash to learn from this," added a Twitter user. "PREGNANCY IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE. FFS."
Wow. @justinbieber and @haileybieber are the epitome of ignorance and insensitivity. I can only hope they receive enough backlash to learn from this. PREGNANCY IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE. FFS.
— Shelby Champine (@shelby_lc) April 1, 2019
Justin may not have tried to be insensitive when he made this pregnancy joke, and instead was likely playing on the fact that many fans are eager to learn when he and Hailey will expand their family. (For the record, Hailey told Vogue Arabia that she "love[s] kids" and "can’t wait" to have her own.)
However, joking about pregnancy when so many people around the world deal with issues related to having children is hurtful — and the Biebers aren't the first celebrities to be called out for such a joke. Last year, Bachelor Nation's Arie Luyendyk and Lauren Burnham made the very same joke on social media, and also received backlash.
Next year, maybe we can all just go with a veggie platter inside a donut box and call it a day.