Justin Bieber was back in Miami on Thursday, not for the first trial date in his DUI/resisting arrest case , but in connection with yet another of his legal entanglements in the Sunshine State.
The 20-year-old singer flew in for a nearly five-hour deposition in connection with a lawsuit filed in June by paparazzo Jeffery Binion, who claimed that Justin and one his bodyguards roughed him up and tried to take a memory card from his camera.
TMZ has just posted a number of clips from the legal proceeding which show Bieber getting upset when lawyers turned their attention to the singer’s ex, Selena Gomez.
Binion’s lawyer, identified in reports as Mark DiCowden, asked Bieber if he knew on-and-off flame Gomez and was dating her at the time of the incident. Bieber shook his head in disbelief, as his lawyer, identified as Howard Weitzman in reports, asked what the relevance of the question was. “Journalism, this isn’t journalism?” an annoyed Bieber asked. When DiCowden persisted and again asked Bieber if he’d ever discussed his feelings about paparazzi with Gomez, Justin sighed heavily, rubbed his chin and then put his hand over his eyes in seeming frustration.
“Don’t ask me about her again,” he finally said in response, waving his finger and repeating the request several more times at increasing volume as DiCowden kept at it. Bieber’s team eventually asked for a break and left the room, seemingly to allow the singer to cool down.
In another clip, Bieber again shook his head and half-smiled as DiCowden asked why the defendant was laughing at his question. “Well, I don’t know, Katie Couric, you tell me,” Bieber dead-panned. “Are you calling me Katie Couric?” the lawyer asked. “No,” Justin responded.
When DiCowden asked the star that if he realized they were engaged not in a news interview, but a deposition, Bieber said he did. “But I see what you’re doing,” Justin continued. DiCowden asked Bieber if he’d ever discussed his feelings about paparazzi with manager Scooter Braun and the singer again put his head back, closed his eyes and sighed loudly, saying he’d answered that question already, refusing to do it again. “No … this seems like a 60 Minute interview,” he said.
At one point, Bieber was asked if he knew long-time mentor and friend singer Usher Raymond IV, who was instrumental in launching Justin’s career, Bieber replied, “No.” When the question was repeated, he had a change of heart. “Usher? Yeah, that sounds familiar,” Bieber said.
Explaining his origin story, Justin looked at the camera and said, “I was found on YouTube … I think I was detrimental to my own career.” DiCowden complained that he was right next to Justin but could not hear the anwswer, at which point Weitzman jumped in and said Bieber had just explained that he was instrumental to his own career. “Instrumental,” Bieber repeated, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
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