Canadian Christian singer Justin Bieber could have died had he not decided to turn his life around for good by accepting Jesus Christ, his manager Scooter Braun revealed.
Braun was actually so worried about Bieber that he took certain precautions to keep the young man from destroying himself as his life was going on a downward spiral.
"As I started to see it going in the wrong direction, I started to prepare. I put deals in place where he was protected for the long run," Braun told The New York Times. "And I started to prepare my company to scale, because I was not going to let him work. He wanted to tour, and I honestly at that time felt, if he toured, he could die."
Bieber has improved significantly since then, and the success of his new album "Purpose" is a true testament of his hard work and commitment to improve, said Braun.
"I know people have seen the marketing and the A&R and everything we put together, and they're like, 'Wow, great job!' But I want to be really clear: I was trying to do that job for a year and a half, and I failed every single day," Braun admitted. "It wasn't until something happened that it clicked for him. He made the conscious decision as a young man: 'I need to make a change in my own life.'"
Braun looked up to other celebrities who managed to turn their lives around, and he is proud that Bieber can now be considered as one of them.
"I looked at Robert Downey Jr. and all these people — when you ask for redemption, people will give it to you. But if you're the boy who cried wolf, they'll destroy you," Braun said. "Once I saw there was consistency I said, okay, now it's time to go back in the professional life."
Braun denied claims that Bieber's turnaround was all scripted. According to him, critics were wrong to judge Bieber's redemption story as a fluke since the singer really went through fire to be able to turn his life around.
"The outsiders don't really know what was happening. It was far worse than people realise. And when he is ready, he will tell what he was going through. But it's a hard thing to watch someone you care and genuinely love go through that. I'm really, really happy that's over," he said.
