Justin Bieber’s dad apparently thinks straight people deserve some attention during Pride Month.
While celebrities across the board have been posting messages of support for the LGBTQ+ community since the beginning of June, on Wednesday, Jeremy Bieber reportedly posted what is being described as a homophobic meme on Twitter. The image featured a rainbow flag with an unquestionably snide message superimposed over it.
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“Don’t forget to thank a straight person this month for your existence,” the text of the meme read.
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Bieber has since deleted the tweet, which drew criticism from social media users. Many of them blasted Bieber for allegedly “abandoning” his son Justin’s mother, Pattie Mallette, shortly after the couple’s famous son was born in 1994. Others accused the elder Bieber of leeching off his son’s success, sparking a parody meme featuring a photo of Jeremy overlaid with the words “Don’t forget to thank Justin Bieber this month for your paid bills.”
Bieber subsequently posted what appears to be a disingenuous “apology” for his previous tweet.
“Acknowledging the nuclear family is offensive?” he wrote. “My apologies to those offended. Was not my intent. Not that my opinion matters.”
Earlier in the week, Bieber posted another tweet about celebrating families, which contained a not-so-subtle anti-LGBTQ+ dog whistle.
“We need to celebrate families. U know the reason we’re all here!” he wrote. “The things this generation glorifies is unbelievable!”
After Bieber deleted his straight Pride meme, critics commented on the earlier post to voice their outrage.
“Both things can exist. There’s so many people in the world & the 🏳️⚧️ community is a minority group. Why can’t you just let people live their lives without perpetuating hate?” one user responded.”
“Everyday is ‘straight’ day,” another wrote. “Nice message for Pride month buddy. This generation glorifies equality, and love. You don’t know what you are talking about! Move on.”
Yet another pointed out what should be totally obvious: “Psssttttt gay people can have families. In multiple different ways.”
Justin Bieber has not responded to his father’s post or to the backlash around it.
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