Justin Bieber Looks Back on His Mistakes and Explains What He Has Learned From Them: "Trusting People Is Hard"

"What Do You Mean?" singer opens up to Elvis Duran

By Francesca Bacardi Aug 27, 2015 2:57 PMTags
Justin Bieber247PAPS.TV / Splash News

It's no secret that Justin Bieber has put himself through a reputation rehab of sorts, working hard over the past year to change his image from the bad boy he seemingly became back to the lovable star all Beliebers can't get enough of. He even got his own Comedy Central Roast and issued a lengthy apology video on Facebook.

Now, in a new radio interview with Elvis Duran airing Friday, Justin opens up about his past mistakes and what they taught him going forward, not only about his career but also about the people he lets into his life.  

"I just want to be around people who I feel are supporting me, uplifting me, and making sure I'm the best version of myself because there are so many people in this industry who just want to keep seeing me fall," he tells Duran, per Us Weekly.

Even though he had people in his life who were trying to steer him in the right direction when he was making wrong turns, Justin, 21, explains that he just wasn't ready to change; he had to wait until he was ready to give up the bad boy persona.

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"It has to be on you. You have to make the conscious effort, because for me, so many times it was good people coming in my life and tugging at me, but I wasn't ready," he explains to the radio host. "They're like, 'Justin, come on.' But I wasn't ready to take that leap and be like, 'Okay, this is what I want to change, this is who I am, and this is not who I am.' It takes moments of clarity to be like, 'Oh, that's why I'm not like this. That's why I shouldn't do this.'"

Like any kid growing up, Justin wanted to make his own mistakes. It was only making them, however, that allowed him to finally realize he needed to stop. "I mean, maybe I'm a bad influence, but for me I was like, no, I'm going to do this until I feel like I shouldn't be doing this. Maybe I was wrong, but that's how I learn, and I feel like I'm much better for it," he says.

In hindsight, the "Baby" crooner can admit that there are certain things he would take back. "Would I do anything different? I would probably stay away from Miami." The Florida city is where the Biebs was arrested for reckless driving and resisting arrest. Justin also explains that part of his problems stemmed from the crowd he was hanging out with, which now he says taught him whom to trust and whom not to.

"Trusting people is hard, especially for me. I've trusted people who I probably shouldn't have trusted before and they've hurt my heart," he confesses to Duran. "I'm a pretty sensitive guy, so I'll lay it all on the line, and they'll kind of pull it. So now I'm figuring out there's certain people I can't do that with."

There's a balance, though. Justin knows he can't rule everyone out because people have hurt him in the past, so he's giving listeners some advice that he's picked up on along the way. 

"Here's what I'll tell the people: Don't let someone who ruined your trust ruin that next person's chance to gain that trust," he advises. "I think I let that affect me and change the way I looked at people for a while."

Bieber's new song, "What Do You Mean?" drops Aug. 28. Based on title alone, it's probably going to be incredibly relatable.