Earlier this week (December 25), the singer appeared to confirm that he was leaving his recording career behind via Twitter. Bieber, who had previously hinted that he was considering quitting the music industry, wrote:
My beloved beliebers I'm officially retiring
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) December 25, 2013
He went on to say that he would never leave his fans and wished them a happy Christmas, stating: "The media talks a lot about me.They make a up a lot of lies and want me to fail but I'm never leaving you, being a belieber is a lifestyle… Be kind loving to each other, forgive each other as god forgave us through Christ Merry Christmas IM HERE FOREVER".
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the COO of Scooter Braun Projects, Scott Manson, has claimed that the singer is "100 percent" not retiring. Meanwhile, GM Allison Kaye added: "Justin is a hard working 19-year-old who would prefer that his recent fundraising work in the Philippines and the considerable amount raised for the cause be the media's focus more than the recent reporting on him retiring.
"Regarding his recent tweeting about his 'retirement' Justin felt that this was the best way to respond to the latest in a long line of inaccurate or wildly exaggerated media reports about him. He chose to channel his frustration into playing along with this baseless rumor and even used 'beloved' to tip off his core fans that it wasn't real.
She added: "But within 20 minutes, Justin realized that fans were confused by the media reports and clarified that he was kidding. This wasn't a planned stunt, it was just another day in the life of living under the microscope. Justin loves his fans and understands that this scrutiny comes along with his success and the interest in him from fans and media."
Justin Bieber's 3D concert movie Believe was released in Stateside cinemas earlier this month. He also released his new album, 'Journals' on December 23. In the run up to the album Bieber had been releasing a new track from the record each week under the umbrella of his Music Mondays series, including his collaboration with Chance The Rapper, 'Confident'.
