He may have been one of the top performers of the night, but it seems Justin Bieber didn’t exactly have the best time at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (22 May).
The morning after he took to the stage, Justin shared a lengthy post on his Instagram page, explaining his discomfort at awards ceremonies in general, claiming that they’re full of “fake smiles” and “hollow” celebrities.
Justin explained: “I don't feel good when I'm [at awards shows] nor after. I try to think of it as a celebration but can't help feeling like people are rating and grading my performance.
“A lot of people in the audience there to be seem worried about how much camera time they will get or who they can network with. When I'm doing a regular show I feel they are there for the right reasons and to strictly have a good time! But these award shows seem so hollow.”
He continued: “I get the premise is to award people for their accomplishments, but is it really? Because when I look in the audience I see a bunch of fake smiles so that when the camera hits them they look happy. Sure there are people truly proud of others so I don't want to knock them I'm just looking at the vast majority. I just think to myself if I'm living my purpose I want the reward to be fulfillment.”
This isn’t the first time Justin has vented his frustration on Instagram, recently using his official account to reveal why he would no longer be posing for fans when out and about in public.
He also used Instagram to clarify why he was cancelling his tour meet and greets, insisting they “drained” him of his energy, leaving him “feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression.”
Read The Biebs’ latest post in full below:
“I don't know about these award shows.. No disrespect to anybody at any of the shows or the people running it. Nothing but love for you guys and your support. But I don't feel good when I'm there nor after.
“I try to think of it as a celebration but can't help feeling like people are rating and grading my performance. A lot of people in the audience there to be seem worried about how much camera time they will get or who they can network with. When I'm doing a regular show I feel they are there for the right reasons and to strictly have a good time! But these award shows seem so hollow.
“I get the premise is to award people for their accomplishments, but is it really? Because when I look in the audience I see a bunch of fake smiles so that when the camera hits them they look happy. Sure there are people truly proud of others so I don't want to knock them I'm just looking at the vast majority. I just think to myself if I'm living my purpose I want the reward to be fulfillment. I'm getting awarded for the things that I'm doing and not for who I am which is understandable I know it would probably be hard to calculate and award someone's spirit lol.
“But When I do get these awards the temptation of putting my worth in what I do is so hard to fight!!!I am privileged and honored to be recognized by my peers in but in these settings I can't feel the recognition. There's an authenticity missing that I crave! And I wonder does anybody else.. Sorry not sorry about grammar it's not my strong point.”
Justin has had plenty of experience with awards shows recently, performing at the Grammys in February, as well as MTV's Europe Music Awards at the tail-end of last year.
Prior to that, he gave an emotional performance at the MTV VMAs last summer, which saw him breaking down in tears at the end of his performance.
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