UN-BELIEBER-BLE: Reactions to Beiber's Anne Frank Gaffe

Oh modern age. With Twitter, Costa and your smart phone, whilst all the silly narcissists that are the celebrities of the current five minutes make a spectacular gaffe, we can chortle over our […]

Anne Frank Justin Bieber

Oh modern age. With Twitter, Costa and your smart phone, whilst all the silly narcissists that are the celebrities of the current five minutes make a spectacular gaffe, we can chortle over our coffee. Or, at least, that was me, the mad looking woman in Hartley Library. Sorry about that.

The most recent star to be caught in the crossfire is good ol’ Justin Bieber. If you’ve been sleeping under a rock, or you are unable to procrastinate (how are you on the Soton Tab then?!), you will be unaware that he made a fool of himself at Anne Frank’s house by saying “Truly inspiring to be here. Anne Frank was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”

Kudos for the self promotion, he’s no one hit wonder. He is ambrosia for the trolls, isn’t he? Hopefully he would read my articles. Same logic there.

So, here are some of the ones that made me chuckle. You may not agree, but that is fine. Happy reading!

There were also plenty of spoofs, such as this little one by the Huffington Post, essentially poking fun at the hapless star’s sense of historical significance in relation to him. Bless. And let’s not forget a high class jab at Bieber! There is the usual snooty article trying to show off how much the writer knows about Anne Frank, and coming off as slightly worrying…however, it does make Justin Bieber seem a little less silly, which is rather impressive if I may say so. But I think we all should remember that the Anne Frank Museum issued a statement on Twitter, which was:

“The Anne Frank House was pleased to welcome Justin Bieber to the Anne Frank House last Friday. We think it is very positive that he took the time and effort to visit our museum. He was very interested in the story of Anne Frank and stayed for over an hour. We hope that his visit will inspire his fans to learn more about her life and hopefully read the diary.”

Whatever you think of Justin Bieber, Anne Frank taught us not to hate. The Anne Frank Museum could have reacted angrily and demand an apology. The comment could have been taken to be patronising. But they didn’t, and by doing so they showed the importance of free speech (no matter how stupid it is) and trying to find the good in people (yes, even in Justin Bieber, trolls). And with that history lesson, I wonder when Lady Gaga will visit the Gulags in Russia and enquire about her little monsters…?