Justin Bieber found himself at the center of an internet firestorm this weekend after reusing an image intended as a memorial to promote his new clothing line.
After announcing last week that he would be taking a break from music, pop star Justin Bieber might want to consider taking a break from Instagram as well.
The controversy began on Instagram Saturday when music mogul P Diddy shared an image of himself with on his former girlfriend Kim Porter who died of pneumonia last November.
In the caption, Diddy wrote the photo was from the day he first told Porter he loved her:
“I called her BONNIE AND I WAS CLYDE! This picture will go down in history as the first time I said she was MINE!!!! AND THE FIRST TIME I TOLD HER I LOVE HER, little did I know I was hers. Miss you BONNIE ❤️ and will forever.”
But apparently Bieber skipped over that part of the touching memorial.
Bieber, who recently launched his new clothing line Drew House, seemed only to notice that Diddy’s outfit in the picture matched the dark yellow palette found throughout Bieber’s collection.
So in a misguided attempt at self promotion Justin reposted the image to his Instagram account with the hashtag #diddyfordrewhouse, but the post was quickly met with a tidal wave of negative reaction.
Some fans seemed willing to give Bieber the benefit of the doubt, assuming he hadn’t read Diddy’s caption.
Others however felt there was no excusing Justin’s post.
And many began calling for Bieber to delete the post.
Bieber eventually waded into the comments himself, claiming he hadn’t been aware of the nature of the image. He continued to defend his post, however, calling it an appreciation of art.
Justin later edited the tags to acknowledge Porter but despite the negative fan reaction, he hasn’t taken down the post from Instagram.
