Justin Bieber Looking Down - H 2012
Getty ImagesJustin Bieber‘s visit to the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam made international headlines after it was reported that the 19-year-old pop star wrote in the guestbook: “Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”
Critics immediately pounced on Bieber, accusing the singer of having a flip and disrespectful attitude toward the iconic historical figure. One THR commenter wrote: “Problem with him is that Justin Bieber lives in his own little world and thinks that world revolves around him. Since he didn’t go to school in his late teens and I’m sure he never watches Discovery, National Geographic and History channel – I suspect that he doesn’t much about World War II and who was fighting who and for what reason. Doubt he understood who Anne Frank. He is really stupid brat.”
STORY: Justin Bieber at Anne Frank House: ‘Hopefully She Would Have Been a Believer’
But a spokesperson for the museum, which is dedicated to preserving the memory of the girl and family who hid from Nazi persecution during World War II, is defending the Canadian boy wonder amid the online vitriol.
“We think that what’s special is that a 19-year-old comes to the Anne Frank House and spends an hour visiting on a Friday night,” Maatje Mostart said Monday in an interview with the AFP.
“He could be doing other things in Amsterdam, he was very interested,” she added. “That’s more important than the commotion that we’re now seeing. That’s the positive side and we want to leave it at that.”
Bieber is scheduled to play three tour dates in Oslo, Norway, this week before playing at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Saturday, April 20.
