Clips of Justin Bieber being sexualized as a teen are resurfacing on TikTok as people say they have newfound sympathy for him

• Clips of Justin Bieber from his years as a child star are resurfacing on TikTok this week.
• Users say the clips in question show Bieber being sexualized by adults from a young age.

Clips of Justin Bieber being sexualized as a teen are resurfacing on TikTok — and people are saying it's making them see him in a more sympathetic light.

The clips, which have received millions of cumulative views in the past few days, show Bieber making appearances at various award shows or press interviews during his younger years, being asked questions of a sexual nature, and being touched by other celebrities in a way that viewers said was inappropriate.

@kendallrae111 He was just a kid :( #fyp #justinbieber #hollywood #industry #fame ♬ retire (final) - Alvedon

One of the clips shows actor Jenny McCarthy kissing a then 18-year-old Bieber on the neck, and groping his backside, after announcing him as the winner in the Rock/Pop Album of the Year category at the American Music Awards in 2012.

"Wow, I feel violated right now," Bieber can be heard saying in the clip.

McCarthy, then 40, told Entertainment Tonight at the time that the incident was "a little cougar scary," adding, "I took the opportunity and the window, considering I'll never get to do it again, and kind of molested him."

Representatives for McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

At a later point during the same TikTok, a snippet from archived audio of an interview between Bieber and an unnamed reporter was featured. According to a reuploaded version of the audio taken from Scott Fox and the Z103.5 radio show, the interview took place at the Grammy Awards in 2010.

"My parents never gave me the sex talk, so why don't you give me the sex talk?" the reporter asks Bieber in the recording.

"Why do you want to know the sex talk from a 15-year-old boy? That's pretty weird," Bieber responded.

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TikTokers commenting on the clips said they thought that public reaction to such incidents would have been radically different at the time if the celebrity involved were a young woman, pointing to the broader idea that male objectification in Hollywood isn't talked about as much as female objectification, as it seems that female child stars have been more vocal about being sexualized from a young age in the past.

"POV you're a millennial who grew up with Justin Bieber in the same generation and realize he lost his innocence to this evil shithole in exchange for 'fame' while being exploited left to right and no one protected him," read one caption under a viral duet from March 5, that shows a user reacting to the clips of Bieber, which received 3.3 million views.

Many commenters said the clips have influenced their opinions on Bieber, causing them to feel more sympathetic towards him because of his past.

"This honestly made me see him in a different light," read one comment that received more than 9,000 likes.

Several users began to speculate that these past incidents must have had an impact on Bieber's life, shaping the way he currently behaves, saying they think he has more of a "guard up" and has potentially developed "trust issues" over the years.

Bieber has previously spoken out many times about the negative effect child stardom had on his mental health and approach to relationships. In 2019, he said in an Instagram statement that he started taking "heavy drugs" at the age of 19 and also "abused all" of his relationships. "I became resentful, disrespectful to women, and angry," he said.

The viral uploads of these clips come days after Bieber was caught in the middle of an online feud where fans pitted the singer's wife, Hailey Bieber, against his ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, due to speculation that Kylie Jenner and Hailey mocked Gomez in a series of social media posts, leading Gomez to make public comments that fans have interpreted as her responding to and stoking the online feud. Gomez appears to have gained nearly 13 million Instagram followers since the explosive drama began, while Hailey appears to have lost followers after the incident.

Representatives for Gomez, Jenner, and Hailey Bieber did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment at the time.

While some online users commenting on the feud have been critical of Justin Bieber and the fact that he has not publicly come to his wife's defense, others were sympathetic towards him, saying that he has previously expressed support for Hailey against continually resurfacing online speculation that he still has feelings for Gomez.

Justin and Hailey began their on-and-off relationship in 2015 but parted ways the following year. They rekindled their romance in 2018, became engaged shortly after, and were married by the September of that year.

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