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Justin Bieber Gets Real About Downsides Of Fame And Feeling Depressed

There are tough times for arguably the world's most famous 21-year-old.

In a shockingly touching and extraordinarily depressing interview with NME, Justin Bieber shared his life isn't actually going as well as you probably think.

In fact, the singer, whose new album Purpose comes out tomorrow, admitted he actually struggles with isolation, depression and betrayal because of his fame.

In the interview, set to release this Friday, Bieber said one of the biggest things he deals with is public perception and society holding him to a higher standard than normal kids his age, specifically referencing the way the media treated him during a string of incidents when he was 19.

Daily Mail reports Bieber said,

It's because of the way the Justin Bieber brand was portrayed. I was a wholesome pop star who was so amazing who had nice hair and a f*cking image that no one could ever live up to. So when all this happened people were like, 'Woah, let's rip him apart'. If you see Ghandi roll up a blunt, it's different to seeing Ryan Gosling roll up a blunt. You wouldn't give Ryan Gosling a hard time.

At one point during the interview, he even makes this painfully heavy comment, comparing himself to Amy Winehouse. He told NME,

I just want people to know I'm human. I'm struggling just to get through the days. I think a lot of people are... You get lonely, you know, when you're on the road. People see the glam and the amazing stuff, but they don't know the other side. This life can rip you apart... 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. 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.

In the article, he also talks about his bouts with depression and loneliness. He said,


Yeah, I know. I KNOW. Justin is going through some rough and scary stuff, like, making-me-actually-feel-bad-for-him rough and scary stuff, which is shocking.

It isn't all bad. Justin did say in the interview the making of Purpose, featuring work by Skrillex, Travis Scott and Nas, got him through some tough times.

On top of that, he thanks a recent friendship with Kanye West for helping him with his mental health a little bit.

He said there is nobody in the industry he gets along with more than Kanye. He told NME,

His advice is always just, 'make music that's so good people can't hate on it.' I didn't wanna bore him or waste his time. So I was like, 'Can I play you these songs?' and he was like, 'I wanna hear everything.' To hear him say that, it stuck with me. It just showed that he cared.

Well, now I feel terrible.

Citations: 'I'm struggling just to get through the days': Justin Bieber reveals the flip-side of fame in VERY frank interview with NME magazine (Daily Mail), Justin Bieber: 'I just want people to know I'm human. I'm struggling to get through the days' (NME)