Justin Bieber has been getting some bad press for the past few months, starting with his “diva-like behavior” while touring in London. Now, it appears that the music world may have begun to turn on him as well.
This weekend at the Billboard Music Awards, Bieber was awarded the first ever Milestone Award. The award, which was sponsored by car manufacturer Chevrolet, was meant to go to an artist who had demonstrated “musical ingenuity and innovation” over the past year. Bieber was nominated for the award along with Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars.
When Bieber took the stage to accept the award, the crowd reaction was mixed, with a large contingent of boos that could easily be heard. The pop singer seemed to react to the jeers, rambling on in his acceptance speech about how he should “be taken seriously.”
“And basically, from my heart I really just want to say it should really be about the music,” said Bieber. “It should be about the craft, the craft that I’m making. This is not a gimmick, I’m not – this is not a gimmick. I’m an artist and I should be taken seriously and this, all this other bull should not be spoken of.”