Justin Bieber Compares Himself To Dearly Departed Pop Star, Eyes Roll

Meanwhile, in Justin Bieber’s campaign to get back on the media’s good side, he’s name-dropped Amy Winehouse in an interview for this week’s issue of NME. Reflecting on his well-documented behavioral issues and various gaffes, Bieber says he identified with Winehouse after watching Amy, Asif Kapadia’s documentary on the late singer. Turns out the struggle is real, even for the world’s biggest pop star. “I watched the Amy Winehouse documentary on the plane and I had tears in my eyes because I could see what the media was doing to her, how they were treating her,” Bieber told the UK’s popular music weekly. “People thought it was funny to poke her when she was at rock bottom, to keep pushing her down until she had no more of herself. And that’s what they were trying to do to me.” Take a moment to reflect on Winehouse’s well-documented struggle with substance abuse and the parallels Bieber draws here sound trivial. However, tragedy aside, the comparison may actually be fair. With the spotlight on him from such a young age, of course the Belieber craze has fans and media alike holding the singer to a “different standard.” As for Bieber “being a normal 19-year-old,” however, we remain unconvinced. His voice is always on point, but to fancy himself a tragic figure – let alone a victim of his superstardom – is pretty tone-deaf.