Justin Bieber Apologizes for Racist Joke Made

Justin Bieber has issued a statement after a years-old video of him making an offensive joke involving N-word emerged online. On Sunday, June 1, Bieber's camp issued a statement in which the singer apologized for his words. "As a young man, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance," he said.

"Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologized for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the past have become public I need to apologize again to all of those who I have offended," he added. "I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again."

"I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again. Ignorance has no place in our society and I hope the sharing of my faults can prevent others from making the same mistake in the future," he continued, admitting that he made "a reckless and immature mistake."

The said clip apparently was filmed when Bieber was 15. In the short clip, he can be seen saying, "Why are black people afraid of chainsaw?" He then delivered the punchline, "Run n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****."