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Jay Z and Beyonce: Exploiting Justin Bieber?

Jay Z and Beyonce used a mugshot of Justin Bieber at the opening night of their ‘On the Run’ concert at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday night. They also used mugshots of other ...
Jay Z and Beyonce: Exploiting Justin Bieber?
Written by Kimberly Ripley
  • Jay Z and Beyonce used a mugshot of Justin Bieber at the opening night of their ‘On the Run’ concert at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium on Wednesday night. They also used mugshots of other music artists including Jim Morrison, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, and David Bowie. Beyonce commented while the mugshots were shown in a montage, saying “even the greatest can fall.”

    As most everyone knows, Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami last January on suspicion of DUI and drag racing. But was it necessary for his larger than life mugshot to be shown on huge video screens throughout the stadium? He’s in a very different league than those of Jim Morrison and Diddy. And he’s a kid, too.

    Certainly Justin Bieber should do the time for his crimes, but this almost seems like exploitation on behalf of Jay Z and Beyonce. In order for Bieber–who is just 20 years old–to salvage his career and possibly even his life–he needs people to stop thinking of him as a thug. Of course mugshots are in the public domain, so no copyright infringements took place. What Jay Z and Beyonce did wasn’t illegal–just perhaps unkind.

    Some concert-goers reacted to the display.

    Jay Z and Beyonce moved their tour to the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati last night. It will be interesting to learn if Justin Bieber’s mugshot was shared there as well.

    Justin Bieber needs to take the necessary actions to change his life on his own. No one can do that for him. And if he continues behaving in such a derogatory manner he may very well swirl down that proverbial toilet into a wasted oblivion. But seeing that he is a kid–one who got too much too fast and didn’t know how to handle it–is it right of Jay Z and Beyonce to exploit him this way? Might they have not also swirled down the loo in much the same way if circumstances were different? They certainly have access to many other mugshots of musicians in high places that they could have used instead.

    Image via YouTube

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