FUMBLE – BIEBER STEPS ON THIRD RAIL

This week's perspective from Bob Reid: Things were a lot easier for the Bieb just a couple of weeks ago when he was back in Toronto, fielding challenging questions about missing Iced Capps from Timmy’s. But when you’re one of the hottest stars on the boil, you – or your peeps – need to be ready to grapple with questions about darn near anything. Which is where Justin Bieber found himself this week, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that touched on weighty issues including his views on when it’s right to have sex and whether he plans on seeking U.S. citizenship. (The answers were only when you’re in love, and no way, we have “free” health care up here). Then he got a total “third rail” of an issue: abortion. It’s one of those relentlessly polarizing subjects that, regardless of where one comes down on it, you’re guaranteed to alienate the share of the audience that holds the opposing view. The reporter who asked, Vanessa Grigoriadis , defended the line of questioning, saying “I think anyone who has as much sway in popular culture as Justin should be asked all questions.” Well, she has the right to ask anything she wants, but Bieber should have been advised that he isn’t obligated to bite. Regardless of his influence, he’s a teen pop star, not an activist on one side of the abortion debate or the other – and as a result, he is entitled to have a private opinion (or no opinion at all) on such weighty moral matters. Knowing the boundaries between things you are happy to talk about and those that you won’t delve into is imperative for anyone who sits down with a reporter. Had the Bieb simply said something like “that’s obviously a very serious issue and one that I think everyone needs to decide their own personal viewpoint on for themselves,” it would have been a non-issue. Instead, his opposition to abortion (“It’s like killing a baby?”) became a worldwide headline, amplified by his muddling around the follow-up question as to whether his feelings change when rape is involved: "Um. Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that." Egads. Decades ago, John Lennon had angry Christians burning Beatles albums after suggesting the band was “more popular than Jesus.” There are some places you just don’t need to go – Bieber learned that the hard way this week.