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"Justin Bieber has apologized for telling a racist joke in a video recorded years ago that recently emerged online. The clip shows an obviously much-younger Bieber, telling a joke in which the punchline repeatedly uses the word &amp;quot;n----r.&amp;quot;\r\nThe Evolution of Justin Bieber\r\nIn a statement on Sunday, Bieber attributed his use of the word to ignorance and immaturity and apologized profusely for telling the joke and hurting anyone.\r\n&amp;quot;As a kid, I didn&amp;apos;t understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I thought it was ok to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn&amp;apos;t realize at the time that it wasn&amp;apos;t funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance. Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologized for those wrongs. Now that these mistakes from the past have become public I need to apologize again to all those I have offended. I&amp;apos;m very sorry.&amp;#xA0;\r\n&amp;quot;I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again. Ignorance has no place in our society and I hope the sharing of my faults can prevent others from making the same mistake in the future. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say but telling the truth is always what&amp;apos;s right. Five years ago I made a reckless and immature mistake and i&amp;apos;m grateful to those close to me who helped me learn those lessons as a young man. Once again....I&amp;apos;m sorry.&amp;quot;\r\nThe emergence of the video is the latest in a series of public relations mishaps for Bieber, who was arrested in January for DUI and drag racing&amp;#xA0;in Miami and has been embroiled in a number of other legal tussles in the months since. Despite all the notoriety, the pop star has continued to release music at a steady clip, most recently dropping the single &amp;quot;Looking for You,&amp;quot; which he collaborated on with the Atlanta trio Migos."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/justin-bieber-apologizes-for-telling-racist-joke-in-video-20140601>