Johannesburg - After being booed by fans at the Billboard Music Awards at the weekend, Justin Bieber was on the end of another earful – this time from a music legend.
Fresh from his tour of South Africa, Jon Bon Jovi had a go at the 19-year-old pop phenomenon, calling him an “a**hole” and blasting him for disrespecting his legions of fans.
In an interview with the London Evening Standard, the founder of rock group Bon Jovi took issue with Bieber showing up two hours late for a concert at London’s O2 Arena in March.
“Every generation has guys that do that, none of that is new,” said the 51-year-old rocker.
“They run the risk of disrespecting their audience members who have worked hard to pay for their ticket, to give you the permission to take two or three hours of their lives — or in that kid’s case, 80 minutes of their lives.
“Do it once, you can be forgiven. Do it enough times and shame on you. They won’t have you back. Then it just becomes a cliché. It’s really not cool — you’re an a**hole. Go to f***in’ work!”
Bieber copped plenty of flak for his tardiness then from fans on Twitter, but even he must have been surprised at the reception he received at the Billboards.
On Sunday night, while picking up a Milestone Award, the singer asked to be taken seriously as an artist, an announcement that was greeted with boos.
“I'm 19 years old, I think I'm doing a pretty good job,” he told the audience.
“From my heart I really just want to say it should really be about the music, it should be about the craft that I'm making.
“This is not a gimmick – I'm an artist and I should be taken seriously and all this other bull should not be spoken.” - IOL