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Justin Bieber Politely Drags 5S0S’ Michael Clifford For ‘He Hates Us’ BS, Headlines Baiting

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 01:18 PST, Dec 27, 2015

Justin Bieber has finally had enough of Five Seconds of Summer repeatedly trotting out the clickbait-friendly and evidently false claim that the Canadian superstar “hates” them.

Last night, Bieber tweeted (then deleted) a series of reasoned messages to the Australian Pop-Punk-lite band’s guitarist, Michael Clifford, making it clear he wasn’t amused by Clifford saying, “I think he [Bieber] hates us,” during the band’s recent Rolling Stone interview, which features them naked on the cover.

For context: the music magazine interviewed the band at their Bel Air house the day after they played at the 2015 American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 22. Bieber performed at the same show, before hosting an after party at The Nice Guy hot spot in West Hollywood to celebrate the release of his new Purpose album.

5SOS would later crash Justin’s bash after attending Nick Jonas’ soiree. Referring to the band’s alleged experience at the Biebs’ bash, Rolling Stone wrote: “They didn’t talk to Bieber — ‘I think he hates us,’ says Clifford — but they had a good time. It was f***ing crazy, people standing on tables and s**t.”

Bieber also took issue with Clifford’s second claim about his party. Namely: “I probably shouldn’t say this, but he had his own album on loop for, like, two or three hours.”

Fast forward to late Saturday (December 26), the Biebs took to Twitter and sent two public messages to Clifford followed by peacemaking comments.

Bieber wrote: “@Michael5SOS sorry guy. Don’t hate you. Don’t even know u. And are you sure you came to our party because my album wasn’t on loop. Strange.”

He continued, “@Michael5SOS wish you the best. Don’t use my name for headlines. U are already on the cover. U don’t need it. Big hugs bud.”

“Sometimes I wonder… What the hell did I have to do with that?? LOL,” Justin then mused, adding, “And now we can all move on. No hate all love. Happy to make it clear. Happy times.”

Compared to past Twitter celebrity feuds, Bieber and Clifford’s exchange isn’t in that league, although it’s likely some gossip-centric media outlets will frame it as that. But, is it really shade if one party is trying to end a fake rumor that the other party keeps repeating publicly? Who wouldn’t be frustrated by that?

It should be obvious, even to the most naive media consumer, that Bieber’s name is pure tabloid gold. It hardly needs saying that a “[Bieber] He hates us” soundbite will automatically generate headlines.

In his later reply to the Biebs, Clifford seemed to backtrack on his claim that Purpose looped for hours at the after party. The guitarist went on to blame Rolling Stone for including that quote. His comeback also seemed to reveal that 5SOS do not believe Bieber “hates” them, which basically underscores exactly why Bieber tweeted Clifford.

Replying to Justin’s tweets, Michael gushed, “@justinbieber done nothing but praise ur album; no idea why that’s even in the article. big fan since the start man, take care.”

He also tweeted a post for the fans.

It’s also worth noting that 5SOS’ interview with Rolling Stone isn’t the first time the band have invoked Bieber’s name, or those related to the hitmaker. Back in October, 2014, band frontman Luke Hemmings denied tweeting Bieber’s ex-girlfriend, Selena Gomez, during the band’s interview with Australia’s Nova FM radio station. Fellow band member Calum Hood then said Hemmings had done so.

Roll to August 2015, while backstage at one of their shows, the band joked to media about Hemmings writing poems and having a “love shrine” dedicated to Selena.

At this year’s AMAs, this nexus of late teen celebrity melodrama saw Gomez, Bieber, and 5SOS all in one place. During their on-the-red-carpet chat to Entertainment Tonight, the band was asked about the rumor of Hemmings’ interest in Gomez. They then joked that they wanted “to cut the beef” and “be friends with Justin Bieber.”

During that same interview Clifford claimed, “We think that Justin Bieber actually hates us,” because of the Gomez-Hemmings rumor. While it was all “jokey-jokey,” the Rolling Stone interview appears to have been one mention too many for the Biebs.

Inevitably, Twitter was lit last night with fans from Bieber and 5SOS’ fandoms having their say.

Three trends launched, one of which was triggered by some Fifth Harmony fans’ anger over Hemmings’ interview admission that the band slept with innumerable fans during their early tours and after shows.

As a result, the #5SOSIsDeadParty hashtag trended as the top tweet in the U.S. and worldwide. Fans expressions of support for Clifford took the form of #MichaelIsOurSafetyPin. #WeAreProudOfYou5SOS was another. A snapshot of tweets follows.

Meanwhile, 5SOS fans seemed to have a hard time accepting that Clifford and the rest of the band were taken to task by Bieber and Fifth Harmony fans because of the band’s own words and actions. Many slammed the interview as fake.

Tell us in comments below if you think Bieber was within his rights to call Clifford out for claiming he “hates” them since he says he doesn’t? Do you think the superstar’s belief that the band were headlines-hunting is an accurate read of the situation — or not?

[Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images]

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