Justin Bieber. AP FILE PHOTO
NEW YORK – Justin Bieber is apologizing after a years-old video surfaced showing the then-teenager telling a racist joke.
In a statement Sunday to The Associated Press, Bieber said when he was a kid he didn’t realize how certain words could hurt. He said he learned from his mistakes and apologized for them, and now is apologizing again because they have become public.
The British tabloid The Sun first published the video, which is five years old. In it, a then 15-year-old Bieber tells a joke about black people that has a racial epithet as the punchline. Before he said it, someone warned him not to — but he said it anyway amid laughter.
The 20-year-old Bieber said ignorance has “no place in our society” and he hopes that others won’t make the same mistake that he has.